EVALUATE CORONAVAC – ROBREDO

VICE President Maria Leonor Robredo favors having Sinovac’s coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) vaccine evaluated by the Health Technology Assessment Council (HTAC).

The HTAC is an advisory body under the Department of Health created under Republic Act 11223 or the “Universal Health Care Act.”

Speaking at her Sunday radio program, Robredo said she did not buy the argument that just because the vaccine was donated, it could forego HTAC evaluation.

She added that the HTAC was created precisely to add a layer of protection for the public.

In a statement posted on February 27, the HTAC said it was in the process “of evaluating evidence on the [CoronaVac] vaccine, and is awaiting more data.”

Earlier this month, it gave emergency authorization to use the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine on people aged 16 and older, who belong to priority groups.

The HTAC also recommended the emergency use of the AstraZeneca vaccine for people aged 18 and older.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted emergency use authorization to the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine on January 14 and to the AstraZeneca vaccine on January 28.

FDA Director-General Eric Domingo last week said he was not recommending the CoronaVac for health care workers who had been coronavirus-infected.

Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said clinical trial data showed that the vaccine “is 50 percent effective in preventing mild symptoms and 100 percent effective against moderate to severe symptoms.”

“The same data also shows it is effective in reducing morbidity and mortality,” she added.

The Philippine General Hospital Physician Association stressed in a statement on Saturday that the CoronaVac “should undergo appraisal by the HTAC “to facilitate individual informed decisionmaking before it is administered to health care workers.”