Pharmaceutical groups affirmed the efficacy of available COVID-19 vaccines against severe illness amid persistent hesitation among the population.
“All of these vaccines are generating near 100 percent or 100 percent efficacy against hospitalization and/or death,” said Pharmaceutical Healthcare Association of the Philippines president Dr. Beaver Tamesis during a virtual town hall discussion on “Enabling Health Solutions & Innovations to Improve the Philippine Public Health System” hosted by the Stratbase Albert del Rosario Institute (ADRi).
“All the vaccines are now showing themselves to be truly efficacious against preventing severe illness. Some are now more efficacious even in preventing infection to begin with. So, we’re seeing more and more of that kind of data. That’s what we are seeing in Israel where severe hospitalization and admissions are in marked decline and in the UK, after they rolled out the AstraZeneca vaccine, death has plunged to 0.”
“Side effect profile is pretty much the same throughout all of the different vaccines. Mostly mild to moderate. Some people would have 2-3 days of symptoms, others just 24 hours or even less,” Dr. Tamesis added.
Stratbase ADRi president Prof. Dindo Manhit said achieving herd immunity will depend on a well-coordinated and collaborative partnership between national government agencies, local government units, and the private sector to ensure that the COVID-19 vaccine is made accessible to every Filipino at the shortest timeline and with utmost transparency.
“By bringing different stakeholders from the public, private, and civil society sector together, it is our hope to raise awareness for the potential of current and future innovative solutions in the health sector, the challenges these solutions can address, and the strategies needed to enable them to make an impact,” Manhit said.
In the same forum, pro-universal health care (UHC) patient and health advocacy groups joined under UHC Watch said: “The devastating effects of this global health crisis has exposed the vulnerabilities of our public health system which the Universal Health Care law is envisioned to solve.”
“Crucial to achieving a truly responsive healthcare system is the government’s investments in the public health facilities and the integration of the best health technologies. The fast response of the pharmaceutical industry to develop vaccines and medicines to fight COVID-19 has been unprecedented, which further highlights how innovative health technologies have been critical in fighting the pandemic,” UHC Watch added.