Fret not, NPRA working hard to approve suitable COVID-19 vaccine

KUALA LUMPUR: Analysing the data in order to choose the best and the right COVID-19 vaccine for Malaysia’s population is crucial to ensure they are convinced of the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine.

For that reason, science advisor to the Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI), Assoc Prof Dr Mohd Ghows Mohd Azzam said any vaccine approved by the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency (NPRA), which holds the responsibility of approving the vaccine, is safe to be used in this country.

“People need to know it is more complicated (to understand the efficacy of a vaccine) than just (looking at the) numbers. This is why the NPRA will be analysing all the clinical data, with different protocols and will decide if the vaccine is safe and efficacious to be used in Malaysia.

“The NPRA is working day and night analysing all the data. It is not an easy process, so we have to give them time to ensure that whatever they approve is the best vaccine for us. Currently, the NPRA has given conditional approval to the Pfizer vaccine. If they approve another vaccine and I am offered to take the vaccine, I will be happy to do so,” he told Bernama.

Dr Mohd Ghows said due to the pandemic, the messenger RNA (mRNA) technology, which has existed since years ago, is now being used for the vaccine development and has been shown to be safe and efficacious.

Citing the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines which have used the mRNA technology and achieved a high efficacy rate at more than 95 per cent, he said the technology is much easier and faster to design (sequence), adding that in the long term, vaccines might also be cheaper to produce via mRNA.

“One thing this COVID-19 has actually done is, it revolutionised the mRNA technology because previously, people were sceptical about mRNA, but the first few vaccines rolled out were mRNA vaccines which showed very high efficacy, including both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.

“The new mRNA vaccine can be produced within about six weeks. That is how fast you can actually change the mRNA sequence on different variants. The mRNA is synthetic, so you can just analyse the sequence and make a new one based on any variant that you want.

“Post-COVID-19, a lot of vaccines will be using the mRNA technology as it is fast, cheap and it is also very safe. These are the main criteria,” he said.

Meanwhile, Dr Mohd Ghows advised the people to always seek the right source and get the facts checked pertaining to any information on the COVID-19 vaccines such as the MOH’s website and the JKJAV social media accounts.

“Looking at the statistics, there are 138 million doses of vaccines that have been administered in over 70 countries all over the world, with no death related directly to the COVID-19 vaccines,” he said.

He, however, noted that people have experienced allergic reactions after being vaccinated, with a low number of cases reported.

“So, for people who have severe allergies, they should have told their doctors about it. This is to mitigate it since we know that some people do have allergic reactions to the vaccine. After you are vaccinated, you have to wait for 15 to 30 minutes before going home as we want the doctors to monitor any reaction. (However), the cases are very low.

“I have not heard of people turning into zombies after being vaccinated. There is also no evidence that the deaths are caused directly by the COVID-19 vaccines,” he said, adding that getting vaccinated is vital to protect not just an individual, but the society as a whole.

“The longer the COVID-19 prolongs, the more the strains of the virus will appear as it is natural for the virus to mutate.

“We need to use vaccines to protect people as much as possible. That is why our tagline is ‘lindung diri, lindung semua’. If you are offered the vaccine, please take it. It is not just about protecting yourself, it is about protecting everyone.

“People need to get their facts checked. Make sure to go to the Ministry of Health’s website to look at the latest facts, for example. Please avoid the anti-vaxxers or those who are fear-mongering on the virus and vaccines,” he said.

-- BERNAMA