Hundreds of Sinovac-injected Indonesian doctors contract COVID

[Froggy]

https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/C...0&pub_date=20210618123000&seq_num=15&si=44594

Hundreds of Sinovac-injected Indonesian doctors contract COVID
Dozens hospitalized as concerns rise over efficacy against more virulent strains

A medical worker prepares a dose of the Sinovac vaccine before giving it to a doctor at a facility in Jakarta, Indonesia, on January 19, 2021. © Reuters
June 17, 2021 17:36 JST

JAKARTA (Reuters) -- More than 350 Indonesian doctors have contracted COVID-19 despite being vaccinated with Sinovac, and dozens have been hospitalized, officials said, as concerns rise about the efficacy of some vaccines against more virulent virus strains.

Most of the doctors were asymptomatic and self-isolating at home, said Badai Ismoyo, head of the Kudus district health office in Central Java, but dozens were in hospital with high fevers and declining oxygen saturation levels.

Kudus is battling an outbreak believed to be driven by the more transmissible Delta variant which has pushed bed occupancy rates above 90% in the district.

Designated as a priority group, Indonesian health care workers were among the first to be vaccinated when the inoculation drive started in January.

Almost all have received the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Chinese biopharmaceutical company Sinovac, according to the Indonesian Medical Association (IDI).

While the number of Indonesian health care workers dying from COVID-19 has decreased significantly -- dropping from 158 deaths this January to 13 this May, according to data initiative group LaporCOVID-19 -- public health experts say the Java hospitalizations are cause for concern.

"The data shows they have the Delta variant [in Kudus] so it is no surprise that the breakthrough infection is higher than before because as we know the majority of health care workers in Indonesia got Sinovac, and we still don't know yet how effective it is in the real world against the Delta variant," said Dicky Budiman, an epidemiologist from Australia's Griffith University.

A spokesperson from Sinovac and Indonesia's ministry of health were not immediately available for comment on the efficacy of Sinovac's CoronaVac against newer coronavirus variants.

Grappling with one of the worst outbreaks in Asia, with more than 1.9 million cases and 53,000 deaths, there has been a heavy toll on Indonesia's doctors and nurses with 946 deaths.

Many are now experiencing pandemic fatigue and taking an increasingly laissez-faire approach to health protocols after being vaccinated, said Lenny Ekawati, from LaporCOVID-19.

"That phenomenon happens quite often these days, not only within the community but also health care workers," she said, "They think because they are vaccinated that they are safe."

But as more cases of the highly transmissible Delta variant are identified in the world's fourth most populous nation, the data is starting to tell a different story.

Across Indonesia, at least five doctors and one nurse have died from COVID-19 despite being vaccinated, according to the data initiative group, although one had only received their first shot.

In Kudus, one senior doctor has died, said IDI, although it is understood he had a comorbidity.

In the Indonesian capital Jakarta, radiologist Dr Prijo Sidipratomo told Reuters he knew of at least half a dozen doctors in the city who had been hospitalized with COVID-19 in the past month despite being vaccinated, with one currently being treated in ICU.

"It is alarming for us because we cannot rely on vaccinations only," he said, urging people to strictly adhere to health protocols.

Weeks after the Muslim Eid Al-Fitr holidays, Indonesia has experienced a surge in cases, with the positivity rate exceeding 23% on Wednesday and daily cases nearing 10,000, the highest since late February.

In its latest situation report the World Health Organization called for Indonesia to implement a stricter lockdown with increased transmission due to variants of concern and a "drastic increase in bed occupancy rates" necessitating urgent action.

 

[tobelightlight]

how come they don't try to find out if the vaccine itself contain the ACTIVE covid virus? are they do conditioned that the vaccine is something that can protect you?

 

[Leepotism]

All these vaccines including pfizer and moderna are useless. Tell me which vaccine really prevent u from getting infected?

 

[syed putra]

What malays thought when receiving the chinese gift was suppose to be a cure, turned out to be a weapon of mass destruction.

 

[Byebye Penis]

Sinovac has a short half-life.
Take 2 don't work, can take 3.
Take 3 don't work, can take 30.

 

[Scrooball (clone)]

Haha… they are selling this garbage in Singapore pharmacies now. Pay money to get screwed? That sounds like something Sinkies will enjoy.

 

[Byebye Penis]

Haha… they are selling this garbage in Singapore pharmacies now. Pay money to get screwed? That sounds like something Sinkies will enjoy.

in a way, you are right.

If you think arm jab is more painful, private clinics using Sinovac, can give you the backside jab.

 

[syed putra]

The doctors are infected but are not dying thanks to sinovac. It has done its job of strengthening the body defence mechanism agsinst covid,

 

[laksaboy]

Keep your eyes on certain countries where only Sinovac is offered or it is one of the main options available from the very beginning.

Hong Kong, Indonesia, certain countries in the Middle East, Europe and South America.

 

[Hypocrite-The]

If the chicon vaccine works...canton would not have an outbreak

 

[CharKuayTeow]

All these vaccines including pfizer and moderna are useless. Tell me which vaccine really prevent u from getting infected?

They are meant to prevent you from getting seriously ill or dying. Infection prevention is only a bonus, not the goal.

 

[Hypocrite-The]

'This is our own fault': The next global virus epicentre could be right on Australia’s doorstep
Posted 18h
A little girl in a veil holds framed photographs of her late mother and father
Aisyah, 10, was orphaned when her mother died from COVID-19. ( ABC News: Iman Pujiono )
It was 10-year old Aisyah who found her mother's body after she died from COVID-19.

As a single mother, Rina Darmakusamah had chosen to isolate at home after testing positive because she had no-one else to care for her daughter.

Not long afterwards Rina went to bed, but her condition rapidly declined as a fever gripped her.

"I saw Mum talking to a pillow," Aisyah said.

"I was wondering why she would do that. She was also sweating a lot.

"And then she was still, not moving at all. I thought she was asleep.

"It was about an hour, and I was thinking Mum never slept that long, so I shook her to wake her up. But she didn't."

Rina never made it out of bed.

An Indonesian woman in a pink veil stands in a garden, while a small girl in a purple veil sits on a bench
Rina (right) was a widow, raising her daughter Aisyah on her own. ( Supplied )
Her mother's death has left Aisyah an orphan. The day after Rina died, the child tested positive for COVID-19 herself and also went into isolation.

But the shock and grief of losing her only parent has taken a far greater toll.

"It's so hard without her," she said.

With her father already long dead, Aisyah has been placed in the indefinite care of a social worker at the local government office at Tangerang, west of Jakarta.

Aisyah's own tragedy underlines the impact of the pandemic on young children in Indonesia when so many adults die, particularly single parents.

A girl in a veil sits at a dinner table with a small boy and a woman in a veil
A social worker has taken in Aisyah to live with his family indefinitely.( ABC News: Iman Pujiono )
She used to help her mother sell clothes online to make a living. Now Aisyah doesn't know where she will live in the longer term or whether she will finish her education.

With Indonesia in the grip of a severe new wave of infections driven this time by dangerous variants, experts fear more children could be left alone and uncertain about the future.

Delta variant pours fuel on Indonesia's fire
Indonesia's new spike in cases occurred in the wake of the recent national holiday after Ramadan, when millions of people travelled to their hometowns in defiance of a government ban.

On Thursday, Indonesia recorded 12,624 new infections, doubling in just over a week and the highest number since January 30.

The country is approaching 2 million cases of COVID-19 since the pandemic began and about 54,000 deaths.

But two recent studies — which tested for antibodies rather than confirmed active infections — show the true scale of Indonesia's outbreak may be many times larger.

Authorities fear the worst is yet to come, with the highly contagious Delta variant, first detected in India, becoming the dominant strain in densely populated areas, including Jakarta and parts of Central and East Java.

A man and woman embrace a sobbing man at a graveyard
COVID-19 infections and deaths are climbing in Indonesia several weeks after many people went home for the Eid al-Fitr holiday. ( AP: Tatan Syuflana )
The intensive care ward at Jakarta's Persahabatan hospital is now full, according to lung specialist Erlina Burhan, and the emergency ward is too overloaded to take new patients.

She said some doctors had been begging for beds to be made available for their own sick relatives. Supplies of oxygen tubes are dangerously low.

At another Jakarta hospital, there are queues of sick people at the door hoping for treatment, while dozens more wait in corridors inside.

The situation at Kudus in Central Java is even worse.

The rapid spread of the Delta variant has helped fuel local infection rates, and hospitals there are more than 90 per cent full.

"This is our own fault," Indonesia's Chief Security Minister Luhut Pandjaitan said this week.

Two men in full PPE lie across graves in a cemetery
With the number of COVID-19 deaths rising in Indonesia, cemetery workers are struggling to keep up with burials. ( Antara Foto via Reuters: Raisan Al Faris )
"The government has gone all out telling people not to go to their hometowns and to stay at home, and yet we are all still crowded together and this is the result."

Jakarta's Governor, Anies Baswedan, has warned of tougher restrictions if the situation worsens, but stopped short of calling for a full lockdown.

But any lockdown will achieve little unless it's imposed across the whole island of Java, according to Dicky Budiman, an epidemiologist at Australia's Griffith University.

"It's useless if only Jakarta does the lockdown while other areas don't synergise efforts to prevent the spread of COVID-19," he said.

Race to vaccinate before catastrophe strikes
As infections spiral across Indonesia, health authorities are accelerating the rollout of vaccines to curb the virus' spread.

President Joko Widodo has said he wants to see 1 million shots administered a day by July. Anyone over 18 in Jakarta is now eligible for a jab.

But a squeeze on imports of vaccines has put Indonesia well behind its goal of inoculating two-thirds of the population —181.5 million people — to reach herd immunity by early next year.

Fears about the efficacy of China's Sinovac vaccine and risks associated with the AstraZeneca vaccine have deterred many Indonesians from getting the jab.

Many Muslims, who make up about 87 per cent of Indonesia's population, are also concerned the vaccines may not be allowed under Islam.

An Indonesian man in a face mask grins as two men hand him a chicken
One Jakarta district is rewarding elderly residents with a live chicken if they get their jab.( Reuters: Willy Kurniawan )
Authorities in one district south of Jakarta have found a novel approach to encourage reluctant residents to get the vaccine, particularly the elderly who are often fearful of the effects.

They have gone doo to door offering the vaccine in one hand and a reward of a live chicken in the other if they agree to a shot.

 

[Rogue Trader]

They are meant to prevent you from getting seriously ill or dying. Infection prevention is only a bonus, not the goal.

Yeah this seems to be the benefit of vaccination as the picture is starting to get clearer

 

[Scrooball (clone)]

Injecting a useless vaccine could be more dangerous than not taking vaccine. U may get a false sense of safety and go out more.

 

[jw5]

from msn.com:

Singapore sees first day rush for Sinovac vaccine​

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Offering Sinovac Biotech COVID-19 vaccines to the public in Singapore for the first time on Friday, several private clinics reported overwhelming demand for the Chinese-made shot, despite already available rival vaccines having far higher efficacy.

Singapore has vaccinated almost half its 5.7 million population with at least one dose of the vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna.


Both have shown efficacy rates of well over 90% against symptomatic disease in clinical trials, compared with Sinovac's 51%.

Earlier this week, officials in neighbouring Indonesia warned that more than 350 medical workers have caught COVID-19 despite being vaccinated with Sinovac and dozens have been hospitalised, raising concerns about its efficacy against more infectious variants.

A number of the people rushing for the Sinovac shot on the first day of its availability in Singapore were Chinese nationals, who felt it would make it easier to travel home without going through quarantine.

Singapore allowed the usage of the Sinovac vaccine by private healthcare institutions under a special access route, following an emergency use approval by the World Health Organization (WHO) earlier this month.

Ong Ye Kung, Singapore's health minister, said on Friday the government is still awaiting critical data from Sinovac before including it in the national vaccination programme.

Meantime, authorities have selected 24 private clinics to administer its current stock of 200,000 doses. The clinics are charging between S$10-25 ($7.5-$18.6 ) per dose.

Serena Wee, CEO of Icon Cancer Centre, said about 1,000 people have registered so far, exceeding its initial stock of 200 doses.

Wee Healthfirst, another approved clinic, put a notice at its entrance on Friday, saying it had stopped reservations for the vaccine until next Thursday, citing "overwhelming demand". A receptionist said about 1,000 people had registered there.

Leong Hoe Nam, an infectious diseases doctor at Rophi Clinic, also said he had been "overwhelmed" by people wanting the Sinovac shot.

Tang Guang Yu, a 49-year-old engineer, was among the Chinese nationals resident in Singapore who waited for the Sinovac shot rather than take a foreign-made vaccine that he thought might not be recognised by authorities back home.

"No one wants to be quarantined for a month, I don't have so many days of leave," Tang told Reuters as he queued outside a clinic.

Travellers to China may have to be quarantined at a facility and at home for up to a month depending on their destination city, regardless of vaccination status, according to the Chinese government website.

Other people said they have more confidence in the Sinovac vaccine since it is based on conventional technology, while those developed by Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna use a newly developed messenger RNA platform.

"The mRNA technology has been around for 30 years, but it has never been injected into human until recently due to COVID-19 emergency, how safe it is?" asked Singaporean Chua Kwang Hwee, 62, as he lined up outside a clinic to enquire about getting the Sinovac shot.

Singapore's health ministry says persons with a history of allergic reaction or anaphylaxis to mRNA COVID-19 vaccine or its components as well as severely immunocompromised individuals should not receive the mRNA-based vaccines.

Sinovac vaccine uses an inactivated or killed virus that cannot replicate in human cells to trigger an immune response.

In recent weeks, several social media messages have popped up saying inactivated virus COVID-19 vaccines, like Sinovac's, provide superior protection against variants than mRNA vaccines. Other messages on platforms have said the mRNA vaccines are less safe.

Authorities have rejected these claims, saying they are safe and highly effective.

($1 = 1.3412 Singapore dollars)

 

[jw5]

from msn.com

'Significant' problems linked to Sinovac vaccine in other countries: MOH official​

SINGAPORE — There is a significant risk of "vaccine breakthrough" with the Sinovac vaccine, or CoronaVac, with international evidence showing that many who had taken it were later infected with COVID-19, said the Ministry of Health's (MOH) director of medical services Kenneth Mak on Friday (18 June).

Addressing reporters at a virtual media briefing by the multi-ministry taskforce on the coronavirus, Associate Professor Kenneth Mak said that Singapore has been assessing the experience of countries such as Indonesia, which has vaccinated a "larger proportion" of the population using CoronaVac.


Alluding to recent reports that more than 350 doctors and medical workers in Indonesia caught COVID in Indonesia despite being vaccinated with CoronaVac, Associate Professor Mak noted, "It's not a problem associated with Pfizer. This is actually a problem associated with the Sinovac vaccine, and in other countries, they are now starting to think about booster vaccinations, even six months out from an original vaccination for some of these vaccines as well.

"So it does give the impression that the efficacy of different vaccines will vary quite significantly," said Prof Mak, stressing that Singapore has "great confidence" in the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines, of which more than 4.7 million doses have so far been administered in the country.

Prof Mak was responding to a question on whether Singapore intends to introduce the Sinovac vaccine into its national vaccination programme. On Wednesday, 24 healthcare institutions were licensed by the Ministry of Health (MOH) to provide the Sinovac vaccine to those who wish to take it.

The 24 institutions were selected under the Private Hospitals and Medical Clinics Act (PHMCA) to be licensed providers under the Special Access Route (SAR). A number of the approved institutions have been seeing long queues of individuals forming at their premises, with some saying their telephones lines have been ringing non-stop in recent days, according to local media reports.

Sinovac remains unregistered and is not authorised by the Health Sciences Authority (HSA), and is to be provided only under the SAR framework. As such, it will not be covered under the Vaccine Injury Financial Assistance Programme (VIFAP) meant for the national vaccination programme.

Prof Mak noted that there still is some "outstanding data" on the vaccine that Sinovac has not provided to HSA, which is required to give "complete assurance" about its quality and safety profile. "We look forward, if data becomes available for us, then to (commence) this process of evaluation but unfortunately we're not able to do so."

 

[jw5]

from msn.com:

Coronavirus: those with BioNTech jabs have stronger antibody response than those who receive Sinovac, Hong Kong study shows​

A major Hong Kong study has found "substantially higher" levels of antibodies in people vaccinated against Covid-19 with BioNTech jabs, compared to those who received the Chinese-made Sinovac vaccine.

People leave after being given the BioNTech vaccine at Lai Chi Kok Park Sports Centre. Photo: Jonathan Wong

The presence of antibodies is a sign that the vaccine is working to protect the individual from the coronavirus.


But the study's findings have raised questions about a government plan to shorten the quarantine period for vaccinated travellers arriving in Hong Kong.

Lead researcher professor Benjamin Cowling, an epidemiologist with the University of Hong Kong (HKU), told the Post the results also suggested that some of those who have received the Sinovac vaccine might need a booster shot.

The government-commissioned study was conducted by HKU's school of public health and involved tracking the antibody responses of 1,000 people who received either vaccine. The details of the findings will be published first in academic journals, Cowling said.

"We do see substantially higher antibody responses in people who received the BioNTech vaccine, consistent with the higher levels of clinical protection reported in the large phase 3 clinical trial of that vaccine, compared to the phase 3 clinical trial of the Sinovac vaccine," he said.

The German-made BioNTech vaccine has been reported to have a 95 per cent efficacy rate, while the mark for Sinovac is 50.7 per cent.

Hong Kong has administered more than 3 million doses of vaccines to residents since late February, comprising 1.7 million BioNTech jabs and 1.3 million Sinovac shots. Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor and her top officials received the mainland-made vaccine when it arrived in the city in February.

Cowling said preliminary findings from about 100 participants in the study were in line with the efficacy rates published by the pharmaceutical firms.

Antibodies are proteins generated by the human body's immune system to identify and neutralise foreign objects such as the coronavirus. Their presence could indicate a prior infection, or that a vaccine is working.

The amount of antibodies does not directly reflect the individual's level of protection, but Cowling said there was increasing evidence that higher levels generally corresponded with greater immunity against infection.

He explained that a higher amount of antibodies usually took longer to dissipate and subside, meaning the period of protection provided by a vaccine could be longer.

© Provided by South China Morning Post Chief Executive Carrie Lam's administration has been encouraging people to get vaccinated. Photo: Dickson Lee


But even when antibodies were no longer detectable, some people might still be able to mount a robust defence against a virus that attacked them.

Cowling said that during the 2009 H1N1 swine flu pandemic, for example, some elderly people showed signs of protection, perhaps because they were exposed to a similar virus strain when they were young.

A recent study by Chinese University of 111 individuals who received either Sinovac or BioNTech jabs found all of them were able to generate antibodies against Covid-19.

Lam said her administration was looking into using antibody screening, such as a finger prick blood test, to shorten the current 14-day hotel quarantine for most overseas arrivals.

Government scientific advisers have recommended cutting the quarantine period to seven days for vaccinated travellers arriving from medium-risk countries if, upon arrival, they test positive for Covid-19 antibodies and negative for the virus itself.

Officials were also considering a separate quarantine waiver for fully vaccinated business travellers from non-high-risk places as Hong Kong's Covid-19 situation eased, but health experts have suggested these travellers should also clear an antibody test.

Cowling said he supported the "inclusion of antibody testing to shorten quarantine."

He added: "I think it will be justified to offer exemption of quarantine for fully vaccinated people who have a positive test for antibodies and a negative test for the virus, because of the very low risk of infection in this group."

But he noted that his findings showed there could be issues in rolling out the antibody tests for travellers because in some cases, testing might fail to pick up small amounts of antibodies generated by the Sinovac vaccine.

The study results come at a time when the city's health authorities are expected to look at procuring vaccine supplies to provide booster shots that improve protection against the virus.

Both vaccines available in Hong Kong require two jabs.

Since Sinovac recipients have a lower level of antibodies, Cowling believed his study showed the need for a third dose of the vaccine to lengthen the protection period for some people.

Further research was needed to determine the exact timing and effectiveness of booster shots, he said.

 

[blackmondy]

When you don't eat pork, you will let stupidity rule over you.

 

[laksaboy]

When you don't eat pork, you will let stupidity rule over you.

It's not just the Indons lah. Many of the countries that exclusively acquired Sinovac vaccines were coerced by the Chicoms. Typically, they are the Belt and Road nations. Same goes for Middle East, South America and Europe.

 

[blackmondy]

It's not just the Indons lah. Many of the countries that exclusively acquired Sinovac vaccines were coerced by the Chicoms. Typically, they are the Belt and Road nations. Same goes for Middle East, South America and Europe.

Dumb cuntries that still believe in tiong-cock's big market.