The Philippine College of Physicians (PCP) is asking the government to keep its focus on further convincing a greater number of the population to obtain booster vaccination. This call is backed by a new set of evidence proving the effectiveness of available Covid-19 vaccines globally.
In a recent Asian media briefing entitled ‘New Data and the Future of Covid-19 Vaccines in Asia,’ the PCP and its partners from across the region presented new data from the International Vaccine Access Center, which indicate the rate of effectiveness of current vaccinations.
Dr, Anna Ong-Lim from the University of the Philippines revealed that all boosted Covid-19 vaccines showed high effectiveness against Omicron-related severe disease and death among the elderly as well as the general population. Vaccine effectiveness is found to be at 84.2% for the general population and 87.4% for the elderly (over 60 years old).
Three doses of the current vaccines provide equivalent protection against severe disease and death—when used as a homologous schedule. Three doses of AstraZeneca (primary and booster) are found to be 84.8% effective. For Sinovac, the effectiveness rate is 75.8%, for Pfizer is 85.7%, and for Moderna is 91.1%.
Vaccines against all Covid strains
According to Dr. Suwat Chariyalertsak of the Chiang Mai University in Thailand, third and fourth doses have been found to provide high levels of protection against severe disease caused by Omicron. After three doses, vaccines are 85% effective in people aged 18 to 49 years old; 89% for people aged 50 to 69; and 94% for people aged 70 years and above. Interestingly, there was no case of severe Covid-19 infection or death observed after the fourth dose during the study period.
The same study also reiterated the effectiveness of the existing vaccines in battling old and new strains of the virus. “Currently available Covid-19 vaccines provide very high protection against Omicron-related severe disease and death,” said Dr. Bruce Mungall, a vaccine expert from Singapore. “The consistent effectiveness of current vaccines against all strains, including Omicron, suggests there is no need to wait for the development of variant-specific vaccines.”
“A fourth dose booster can help restore protection. Although vaccine effectiveness against infection decreased three months after a booster, protection against serious disease was maintained, and further improved by a fourth dose booster. Maintaining a level of immunity against Covid-19 will likely require annual boosters or every 4 to 6 months for a more vulnerable population,” he added.
Research covering millions of people confirms the safety profile of currently-available Covid-19 vaccines, especially when balanced against the risk of Covid-19 infection. Safety is a critical aspect of public acceptance of vaccination programs. After 12.5 billion doses of various Covid-19 vaccine types administered globally, people can be confident in the safety profile of currently available vaccines.
Vaccination in PH
In the Philippines, over 77.3 million people or 98.98% of the target population (within a specified age limit) have received at least a dose of Covid-19 vaccine from 2020 to September 2022, based on data from the Department of Health (DOH). About 72.6 million Filipinos or 93% of the target population have been fully vaccinated, or have received the mandatory two doses of vaccines.
Only about 18.3 million Filipinos or 23.4% of the target population have voluntarily obtained a booster or third vaccine shot, while just about 6.8 million or 78.2% of the target population (senior citizens and those with co-morbidities) have so far received a fourth vaccine dose.
Thus, the health department is launching a Bakunahang Bayan program dubbed ‘Sa Booster PinasLakas’ from September 26 to 30, 2022.
[wpedon id=”7508″ align=”center”]
