Plague, remember the mixed ice (ABC) to the vaccine mix? No matter what, this is the 4th time, opss, maybe the 5th time.
Pharmaniaga Bhd stated that 2 doses of Sinovac Covid-19 vaccine with 1 dose of Pfizer-BioNTech booster were less effective against the Omicron variant, thus contradicting the statement issued by the Minister of Health, Khairy Jamaluddin.
Pharmaniaga, a licensed distributor of Sinovac vaccine in Malaysia, cited a study conducted by Yale University stating that 3 doses of Sinovac vaccine were able to produce 95% higher neutral antibodies compared to 3.3% for 2 doses against variants of concern (VOC), including Omicron.
According to the study again, 2 doses of Sinovac vaccine with 1 dose of Pfizer booster produced an antibody response similar to 2 mRNA vaccines, indirectly it did not differentiate the neutralization capacity against Omicron.
Thus, Pharmaniaga has insisted that getting a booster dose of Sinovac is more recommended as it will offer better protection and create a stronger antibody response against the disease.
As a result, it has contradicted a statement made by Khairy Jamaluddin on his personal Twitter dated November 16, which called on Sinovac recipients to take the Pfizer vaccine as a booster dose as it is believed to provide a higher level of protection.
Khairy also said the Ministry would allow all Sinovac vaccine recipients to choose their own booster dose but recommended Pfizer or AstraZeneca.
According to him, a total of 3.5 million Sinovac recipients have not yet received a booster dose.
Currently, approximately 12.616 million adults or 53.9% of the adult population in Malaysia have received booster doses.
