About 1,091,100 doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered to the public, with about 719,900 people receiving their first dose and about 371,200 people getting their second dose. Among those given the first dose of vaccines, about 375,600 people have received the Sinovac jab and about 344,300 people have received the BioNTech one. For the second dose, about 223,100 people have received the Sinovac vaccine, while about 148,100 people have been administered the BioNTech jab. About 3,600 people received their first dose of the Sinovac vaccine under the COVID-19 Vaccination Programme today. Among them, about 3,200 people received the jab at eight community vaccination centres (CVCs), while about 400 were inoculated at private doctors and clinics participating in the programme. Around 10,400 people received their second dose of the Sinovac vaccine today, including about 9,800 people vaccinated at CVCs and about 600 people through private doctors and clinics.
The two scientific committees under the Centre for Health Protection convened a meeting today to provide recommendations on the use of COVID-19 vaccination for those with previous COVID-19 infection.
Joined by the Chief Executive’s expert advisory panel, the committees also discussed the existing evidence on COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness against different variants.
The meeting noted that previous COVID-19 infection usually confers immunity for at least six to nine months for the majority of patients. There is accumulating evidence showing that those previously infected with COVID-19 would be further protected by one dose of mRNA vaccines.
After receiving one dose of mRNA vaccine, these people may experience more systemic side effects, such as fatigue, headache, chills, muscle pain, fever and joint pain, when compared to those without prior infection.
People who wish to receive the mRNA vaccine should wait for at least 90 days after discharge from previous infection.
The meeting also noted that in general, studies have shown that the existing vaccines work well against the non-variant. The effectiveness data against variants differ by vaccines.
The Fosun Pharma/BioNTech vaccine is effective against the variants which first emerged in the UK and Brazil, but is less effective against the South African one.
There is currently limited efficacy data of CoronaVac developed by Sinovac Biotech (Hong Kong) against variants.
The vaccine developed by AstraZeneca in collaboration with the University of Oxford is effective against the UK variants but is ineffective against the South African one.
The meeting also agreed that the combination of non-pharmaceutical interventions with vaccination will allow for maximum protection against the virus. There is a need to continue social distancing, good hand hygiene and wearing a mask in public to reduce the risk of transmission.
http://dlvr.it/RvxspQ
http://dlvr.it/RvxspQ