REMBAU, March 18 — The government will consider giving a third dose of the Covid-19 vaccine as a booster should the pandemic become endemic, Coordinating Minister for the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme, Khairy Jamaluddin said.
He said studies have shown that there is a possibility that a third dose is needed next year.
“This is also one of the strategies to deal with (virus) variants should that happen.
“We can ask the companies selling (vaccines) to us to provide new vaccine formulas so that we can deal with mutated variants,” he told a media conference after receiving the Sinovac vaccine shot at Rembau Hospital today.
Khairy, who is also Science, Technology and Innovation Minister, was asked what were the government’s plans should there be an over purchase of Covid-19 vaccines.
An endemic is medically defined as a disease outbreak within a geographic location that exists perpetually.
Khairy said if there was a surplus, the vaccines would be kept as buffer stock for a number of reasons.
“Right now, we are going through a phase of clinical trials on teenagers aged 12 to 18 years. If it is found that this vaccine is safe for that group, then we will involve teenagers in this immunisation program, that is why we need a buffer stock,” he said.
Meanwhile, Khairy explained the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Division’s (NPRA) application to Pfizer for its vaccine was for two doses.
“We can’t change it to a single dose according to our whims and fancies as clinical data show that the best immunisation is only with two doses.
“Although there are studies to show there is a high level of effectiveness after one dose, we still do not have clinical data to prove it,” he said.
Meanwhile, Khairy once again gave his assurance that the Sinovac vaccine is safe, saying that it had been evaluated by the NPRA and found to have the same safety level as the Pfizer BioNtech vaccine.
He said Sinovac has also been used worldwide, and to date, more than 60 million doses have been administered and had also received 27 Emergency Use Authorisations globally, including in China, Indonesia, Turkey and Brazil. — Bernama
