Leaked memo on Sinovac

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Gaybutton
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Leaked memo on Sinovac

Post by Gaybutton »

From where I sit, it is hard to know if Sinovac really works well or if China is peddling garbage. Personally, I am not ready to fully trust any of the vaccines, including Pfizer and Moderna. Those might be the best that currently exist, but even after I get one of them, whenever that might be, I'm not about to disregard, cease, or become complacent about any of the precautions. Wearing the face mask, social distancing, and use of the hand sanitizers is no longer the "new normal". It has graduated to just plain normal.

So far, Covid has not been among my medical problems and I intend to keep it that way as best as I can. In Thailand the Delta variant is currently the most dangerous Covid problem. And if new strains come into existence, does anyone truly believe that sooner or later they won't end up in Thailand?

My view of the vaccines, even those considered to be the best, is they reduce, but they don't eliminate, the chances of contracting Covid. I believe if yet another outbreak occurs, especially if it is the Delta variant, at best you can kiss these "Sandbox" schemes goodbye.

I wish there were some way to predict what is going to happen, but whatever happens, I don't believe this Covid crisis is going away any time soon - and neither is the tourism industry crisis. It seems like every time we turn around, almost as soon as some light appears at the end of the tunnel, something happens to snuff it out.
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Thailand leaked memo raises concerns over Sinovac vaccine's efficacy

by: Reuters

July 6, 2021

A leaked health ministry document has prompted calls in Thailand for medical staff inoculated against Covid-19 to be given a booster of an mRNA vaccine, after it included a comment that such a move could dent public confidence in China's Sinovac Biotech's vaccine.

The internal memo, which included various opinions, was reported by local media and shared widely on social media. It was confirmed by Thai Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul as being authentic.

It included a comment from an unnamed official who recommended authorities do not give a booster shot of Pfizer-BioNTech's vaccine to frontline health workers, because such a move would be "admitting that the Sinovac vaccine is not effective."

Thailand has administered Sinovac's inactivated virus vaccine to most health workers, and its real-world study showed two doses were 95% effective in reducing mortality and severe symptoms. The study showed it was 71% to 91% effective in stopping infection with the Alpha variant.

Sinovac did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the vaccine's efficacy.

The comment in the leaked document prompted calls from prominent Thai health experts, including a top medical council official, to give health workers a Pfizer-BioNTech booster shot.

The hashtag "Give Pfizer to medical personnel" trended on Twitter in the country, with more than 624,000 tweets on Monday.
Senior health official Opas Karnkawinpong told reporters the document was not real, however, contradicting health minister Anutin.

Anutin said the comment on the booster shot was "just an opinion" and there was an expert panel to set vaccine policy. He added that two doses of Sinovac's vaccine were effective and "deliver results beyond the standard."

Thai experts have urged the government to use various types of coronavirus vaccine to better protect the population.

It is relying mainly on AstraZeneca shots, locally manufactured by royal-owned company Siam BioScience. Authorities say Moderna's mRNA vaccine will also be available.

Thailand has procured 20 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for future delivery and will receive 1.5 million doses donated by the United States later this month.

World Health Organization experts have found the Sinovac vaccine was effective in preventing Covid-19 in adults under 60, but cautioned that there wasn't enough quality data on the risk of serious adverse effects.

https://edition.cnn.com/2021/07/05/asia ... index.html
Jun

Re: Leaked memo on Sinovac

Post by Jun »

Gaybutton wrote: Tue Jul 06, 2021 4:40 pm From where I sit, it is hard to know if Sinovac really works well or if China is peddling garbage. Personally, I am not ready to fully trust any of the vaccines, including Pfizer and Moderna.
Are the vaccines free from side effects ? Well, no. Just like almost all other treatments.

However, it is very clear that the Western & Russian vaccines dramatically reduce the death rate.
So, we are much better off with the side effects of all these vaccines than the worst side effects of covid.

I'm less sure about Sinovac. Anyone who might be offered only that in the next few months might want to look for independent non-Chinese trial data, in a democratic country. If such a data exists.
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