Dr Boo Cheng Hau said that in the last week alone, about a fifth of the booster recipients he had been asked to administer to had refused the Pfizer-made Covid-19 vaccine as they had earlier been inoculated with Sinovac’s.
“Even though the health ministry has approved mixing-and-matching Sinovac’s vaccine with Pfizer’s as a booster, there are a substantial number of recipients who doubt the regiment,” the Johor DAP committee member said.
If such a rate of rejection persisted, he said, it would negatively affect the country’s efforts to contain the virus.
In a statement, Boo said the government’s local insights would help in convincing the sceptics.
“People need as much and as detailed information as possible so they can see the benefits and risks for themselves,” he said.
“We cannot assume what they can or cannot understand, and must allow them to see all the available information in order to make an informed decision.”
He also said the ministry must respect the rights of those who would rather receive a homologous booster shot, and thus must release the clinical data it has on this kind of regime.
“Research shows that after a certain period, antibody levels drop to the point where the patient is almost back to square one when they hadn’t been vaccinated. So we need to be closing this gap in immunity by encouraging people to get a booster.
“Some people, particularly the elderly, may feel very comfortable with the Sinovac vaccine, for instance. Maybe, when they received it initially, they had no side effects and now feel that it’s what is best for them.
“So, even if research indicates that a heterologous regime is more effective, if offering people the same booster as their original doses is what it takes to get them to accept it, that’s what must be done. Getting a homologous booster, while maybe not as effective as a heterologous one, is better than none at all.”
Boo said that more local research must also be conducted on a wider variety of mixes, utilising the different vaccine’s Malaysia has access to.
“International research is good, but we must also do our own. We may have different strains developing or have different genetics to people from overseas, so we need to be looking into the best combinations for our people.”
Currently, only Pfizer’s vaccine has been approved as a heterologous booster for Sinovac recipients, which is currently being rolled out among high-risk groups like the elderly.