Sinovac vaccines ‘not low quality,’ recipients won’t die from Covid-19, says Palace

MANILA, Philippines — Malacañang on Monday vouched that the China-made Sinovac vaccines are “not low quality,” saying those who would get it will not die from Covid-19.

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque gave this assurance even after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) did not recommend Sinovac’s vaccine to be administered on health workers and senior citizens.

“It is not a low quality vaccine, it is accepted under standards of the WHO [World Health Organization] itself,” Roque said in an online briefing.

“It is a guarantee that yung mga nabakunahan ay hindi po mamamatay dahil sa Covid-19, it is a guarantee na kung ikaw ay tamaan man, mild and asymptomatic ka lamang,” he added.

(It is a guarantee that those who will receive it won’t die of Covid-19, it is a guarantee that in case you catch Covid-19, you will only be a mild and asymptomatic case.)

While the FDA gave it an emergency use authorization (EUA), experts said the Sinovac vaccine’s efficacy rate of 50.4 percent was not fit for health workers always exposed to Covid-19 patients.

FDA also said that the Sinovac vaccine should only be administered to clinically healthy individuals aged 18 to 59 years old.

“Bakit naman hindi tatanggapin ang bakuna na magbibigay ng kasiguraduhan na hindi ka mamamatay dahil sa Covid-19? Baka masagasaan ka o iba pa, mamatay ka sa gutom dahil sa lockdown pero at least hindi ka mamamatay dahil sa Covid-19,” Roque said.

(Why refuse a vaccine that will guarantee that you won’t die of Covid-19? You might get run over or die of hunger, but you won’t die due to Covid-19.)

“It’s better than no protection and as I said, ang iniiwasan natin ay yung pagkakasakit na seryoso o di naman kaya ay yung nakamamatay (What we’re avoiding are serious illnesses and death due to Covid-19),” he added.

Roque said the 600,000 doses of Sinovac vaccines to be donated by China are expected to arrive in at least three days.

EDV