Staff Writer
Following recently published results by the medical journal, The Lancet, which ranked Sinopharm first in terms of safety and efficacy against Covid-19, local medical experts yesterday heaped praise on authorities for the wise pick.
The recent rankings by the medical journal looks set to spur the ongoing inoculation programme as health authorities seek to achieve herd immunity by administering the vaccine to at least 60 percent of the population.
“Against the criticism and scepticism, it was imperative and only logical for the Government to make this decision based on the fact that China was among the first countries to record the COVID19 virus.
“Therefore it had more time to look into it and come up with a potential vaccine. But due to prejudice detractors were quick to dismiss the same vaccine which the Chinese were using themselves,” said Tendai Muchowa, a Harare pharmacist.
At the same time, this week interim results from late-stage trials shows that Sputnik V (the Russian vaccine which Zimbabwe is to receive 20 000 vaccine doses) had an efficacy rate of 91.6 percent.
“As such we urge Zimbabweans to go and get vaccinated and ignore misinformation from other sectors of the media which is not scientific,” he added.
At the same time, according to Dr Norman Matara from Zimbabwe Association for Doctors for Human Rights, acceptance of the Sinopharm vaccine even among health workers had been generally low due to the absence of information on the drug.
“People need the Minister of Health to have an effective communication department such that they are given information regarding this vaccine, about its safety, its effectiveness, and dispel all those myths and misconceptions which are surrounding this vaccine,” he said.
He further pleaded with the Government to rein in some political or religious leaders who are publicly denouncing the vaccines.
“We cannot have people talking negative things about the vaccination when there is no scientific basis for that,” he said.
President’s Spokesperson, George Charamba has dismissed alleged low uptake of the jab highlighting that the country still had limited stocks of vaccines, hence priority being given to frontline workers.
“There is readiness to get vaccinated, so much so that current limited stocks will be overwhelmed if Government were to open floodgates to the general public,” he said.
According to the New York Times, Chinese and Russian vaccines were initially dismissed in Western and other global media, partly because of a perception that they were inferior to the vaccines produced by Moderna, Pfizer-BioNtech or AstraZeneca.
“The mounting evidence showing that the Chinese and Russian vaccines are reliable should be taken seriously, and fast, especially considering supply issues throughout the world,” it read.
The publication further stated that the main problem was that the most trusted World Health Organization’s rules for certifying vaccines were skewed in favour of Western states.
“WHO approved the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine at the end of 2020 less than two months after the makers applied for consideration, and it is expected to decide on the Moderna and AstraZeneca vaccines this month. The Chinese and Russian vaccines are still waiting in line, even though the review processes for those were initiated earlier,” it said.
Despite this delay in these Chinese drugs approval, France, Spain and Germany are reported to be considering placing orders for the Chinese and Russian vaccines in waiting.
