The efficacy of the Sinovac vaccine is 90% in normal people and 50.3% in healthcare professionals: MinSalud

In the morning of this Tuesday, President Iván Duque announced that next weekend 192,000 doses of the Chinese Sinovac vaccine will reach Colombian territory. Faced with the problem, the Minister of Health, Fernando Ruiz, responded to several unknowns about this prototype in Noticias Caracol and clarified how effective the Asian organic is which will soon arrive in the country.

One of the doubts the newsletter raised in Ruiz was about the vaccine’s effectiveness Sinovac, which is 50.3%, compared to Pfizer, which is 94% effective. Ruiz referred to figures released by the World Health Organization (WHO) on vaccines and assured that “The efficacy recommended by the WHO is at least 50 percent. Sinovac is above this percentage, 50.3 “, said the health ministry, which added that the Chinese biologic gives greater immunity to those not directly facing covid-19, as medical professionals do.

“I want to clarify that this efficacy of 50.3 occurs in a study where it was evaluated in an environment where it was only applied to health figures working with COVID, where the risk of contagion is high. higher than in population studies that have been performed with Sinovac Vaccine. The efficiency – in normal people – is around 90% and it is also very important, ”Minister Ruiz explained to the press.

In the same vein, the head of the Health portfolio told Noticias Caracol that all the vaccines that the Colombian government have succeeded in mitigating the coronavirus. “They are almost 100% effective in preventing serious illness from COVID – the illness that causes death. This is very important for the prevention of mortality in the elderly, which is our main objective ”, stressed the Minister, who also pointed out that this Asian organic product is used in Chile and Uruguay.

When Sinovac arrived in Colombia

President Iván Duque announced on the morning of Tuesday February 16 that next weekend 192,000 doses of the Chinese Sinovac vaccine will reach Colombian territory. This follows the arrival of 50,000 doses from the pharmaceutical company Pfizer on Monday. “We will continue to gradually receive the necessary doses of vaccines to 35 million Colombians in 2021, ”the president wrote on his Twitter account.

Duque shared two images showing that the Sinovac vaccines are already in the packaging area and are seen in a freezer with a notice saying “Republic of Colombia.” The Chinese company’s doses, unlike those from Pfizer which require refrigeration to -70 ° C, should only be at 2 ° C.

For its part, the dose of Sinovac can be stored for three years in the refrigerator.. It also requires two applications delivered 28 days apart, while Pfizer’s applies at 21.

Since January 29, Duque announced that it has completed the acquisition of 2.5 million doses with the Chinese pharmaceutical, which will serve just over one million people in addition to an additional 10 million Moderna vaccines that will be applied to five million Colombians. In total, the government purchased 61.5 million doses distributed as follows:

• In multilateral negotiations:

– Covax: 20 million doses for 10 million people.

• During bilateral negotiations with pharmaceutical companies:

– Pfizer: 10 million doses for 5 million people, 50,000 of which have already arrived.

– AstraZeneca: 10 million doses for 5 million people.

– Jansen: 9 million doses for 9 million people.

– Modern: 10 million doses for 5 million people.

– Sinovac: 2.5 million doses for 1,250,000 people.

In total, this is an investment of more than 2 billion pesos, which guarantees organic products to 35 million 250,000 Colombians in the year 2021.

The vaccination plan is advanced

The national government has confirmed that the start of the national vaccination plan is brought forward from February 20 to 17, the day Verónica Machado, a healthcare professional who lives in Sincelejo, Sucre, will receive the first biological product against covid-19 applied nationally.

“We wanted to do this in an orderly and thorough manner. We have made a big effort so that the vaccine is distributed throughout the national territory and not just in urban areas or capitals”, Said the Minister of Health and Social Protection, Fernando Ruiz, who confirmed which will be the first cities to launch the process.

In this direction, the official informed that everything will start in the town of SincelejoIt was confirmed that the capital of Sucre has succeeded in establishing an “absolute confluence” between the authorities of the territorial entities (mayor and governor), EPS, IPS and the Ministry of Health. On the same day, he said, the process began in Montería.

Vaccination continues Thursday 18 in Bogotá, Medellín, Cali, Bucaramanga, Cartagena, Barranquilla and Cundinamarca; on Friday 19 it will continue in Riohacha, Cúcuta, Pereira, Armenia, Manizales and Valledupar while Pasto, Popayán, Tunja, Neiva, Buenaventura and Ibagué will do the same on the 20th, when the vaccination process has started.

On Monday February 22 it will be the turn of Yopal, Florencia, Arauca, Quibdó, Mocoa and Villavicencio and on Tuesday 23 they will close the capitals with Inírida, San José del Guaviare, Santa Marta, San Andrés and Puerto Carreño. Leticia and Mitú are reported missing, apparently they have to wait for lack of freezers.

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