Part 6 of Dr Sheri Fanaroff frequently asked questions and answers.

6. WHAT ABOUT THE NEW SINOVAC VACCINE?

● This weekend, SAHPRA registered the third COVID vaccine for emergency use in South Africa, subject to certain conditions, including the final results of ongoing clinical studies. This vaccine was also recently registered by WHO, and there has been a lot of political pressure to register it in this country.

● Sinovac is an inactivated whole virion, two dose vaccine, administered 4 weeks apart and will be registered for people between 18 and 59 years old.

● We still await robust studies proving efficacy of Sinovac, particularly against the delta variant.

CONCLUSIONS:

The greater the numbers of unvaccinated people, the bigger the risk of incubating new, even more contagious forms of the virus. Ursula van der Leyden, the president of the European Commission, stated that “None of us will be safe until all of us are safe”. With this in mind it is incumbent on all of us to be vaccinated when it is our turn, while prioritising those most vulnerable.

We hope you have enjoyed this informative session with Dr Sheri Fanaroff and have a better idea of the vaccines and the pandemic.

Sources:

Dr Sheri Fanaroff, Gauteng General Practitioners Collaboration, 05^th July 2021