PHARMANIAGA Bhd has offered a batch of Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine to the Ministry of Health (MOH) to cater to the preference of the public for the vaccine as their booster shot.
Pharmaniaga Bhd group managing director Datuk Zulkarnain Md Eusope said the group is in the final stages of discussion to register the vaccine as a booster shot with National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency (NPRA) and expected it to be approved very soon.
“Pharmaniaga has previously supplied more than 22 million doses to MOH and private sector, thus there are about 11 million Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine recipients requiring the booster shot,” he said.
“Sinovac COVID-19 booster shots have been approved and used in China, Turkey, Chile, Indonesia and Cambodia.
“Six other countries are waiting for approval from their respective regulatory authority.”
Datuk Zulkarnain was responding to earlier news reports about Johor DAP leader Dr Boo Cheng Hau (who is also a medical practitioner) claiming that at least 20% of Sinovac recipients reject Pfizer booster shots as they prefer the same vaccine for their third dose.
Recent real-world study in Chile and an immunogenicity test done in Turkey shows three doses of Sinovac is better than mixing with different vaccine as a booster.
Research results conducted at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Peking University and Sinovac Biotech Co Ltd, shows a third dose of Sinovac would boost immune response as early as seven days after booster dose with longer persistence of antibodies.
Sinovac oversea business senior director Weining Meng in a recent webinar organised by Pharmaniaga said a booster shot given at an interval of six to 12 months after the second dose would lead to a strong boost in immune response, with neutralising antibody titers increasing to approximately 20 times in adults and even higher in elderly population above 60 years of age.
The booster shot is also highly effective in prevention against deadly Delta and other variants.
Malaysia has approved off-label use heterologous COVID-19 third dose for Sinovac recipients aged above 60 years old (elderly group).
This will be part of a subgroup of the Real World Evaluation of COVID-19 Vaccination (RECoVaM) real-world study on COVID-19 vaccine efficacy led by the Institute for Clinical Research (ICR).
“We hope once NPRA approves the application, the Government will give the green light for the vaccine to be administered as a booster shot for Sinovac recipients.
“Majority of Sinovac recipients received their second dose between June and September. As such, the requirement for a booster shot will start from December onwards and we have enough doses to cater for the needs of the nation,” Datuk Zulkarnain remarked, adding that the vaccine will also be made available for the private market.
Currently, the vaccine has been approved by NPRA for adults and adolescents aged 12 years and above.
Pharmaniaga is the leading pharmaceutical Company of Boustead Holdings Bhd group of companies, and together with Lembaga Tabung Angkatan Tentera, are the major shareholders of the company. – Nov 6, 2021
