Sinovac vaccine effective to prevent COVID-19 infection - Expert

KUALA LUMPUR: The Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine manufactured by China that arrived in Malaysia today is as effective in preventing the COVID-19 infection as the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

Cheras Columbia Asia Hospital medical officer Dr Malar Santhi Santherasegapan said clinical trials conducted in Brazil and Turkey indicated that the Sinovac vaccine efficacy level is at 50.4 per cent and 91.2 per cent respectively.

"People assumed that 50.4 per cent of volunteers in Brazil who took the vaccine are healthy while another 49.6 per cent experienced harmful side effects.

However, that 50.4 per cent of people have successfully built immunity against COVID-19 and all of them are not infected or need intensive treatment and no one dies, " she said while appearing as a guest in a special programme streamed on Bernama TV Facebook in conjunction with the arrival of the Sinovac vaccine today.

Meanwhile, she stressed that there was no data to support the claim that Persons with Disabilities (PwD) are at risk of experiencing side effects from any type of COVID-19 vaccines and urged them to get vaccinated against the deadly virus.

In the same programme, University of Malaysia Faculty of Economics and Administration senior lecturer Dr Mohammad Tawfik Yaakub said the arrival of the COVID-19 vaccines would revive the country's economy as many more people can now return to work.

-- BERNAMA