Covid-19: Government Defends Efficiency of China-Made Sinovac Connectors After Death Rate Report
Authorities have defended the effectiveness of the Sinovac vaccine following a report showing that the majority of fifth-wave deaths among vaccinated Covid-19 patients had received the Chinese-made jab.
Health Protection Center Chuang Shuk-kwan said during Sunday’s Covid-19 briefing that a recent report was “a bit misleading” and needed clarification, citing an article published by Ming Pao earlier that day.
She said that since the fifth wave began, the mortality rate for the unvaccinated was 2.58 percent. The figure dropped to 0.09 percent for patients who had received two doses of Covid-19 jabs.
Among those aged 80 and over, the age group that makes up an overwhelming percentage of Covid-19 deaths even getting a single shot of either Sinovac jab or the German-produced BioNTech vaccination significantly reduced mortality by “almost three times,” Chuang added.
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“The question is not about which jab provides more protection. The most important thing is whether you get vaccinated,” Chuang said, citing figures based on the first 5,436 Covid-19 deaths since the fifth wave began.
At present, 38.95 percent of those aged 80 or over have received two doses of a Covid-19 vaccine, according to government data. Nearly 78 percent of them chose Sinovac.
However, the data presented by Chuang showed that the fatalities among patients aged 80 years and over who received Sinovac jab were higher compared to those who chose BioNTech.
Research has consistently shown that Sinovac is less effective than the BioNTech vaccine in providing protection against Covid-19 infection. against the Omicron variant.
Chuang said the death rate for elderly patients aged 80 and over who were vaccinated with a single shot of Sinovac or BioNTech was 5.83 percent and 3.44 percent, respectively.
The statistics that Chuang read out were also published in a government announcement Sunday, which warned against the “misleading” media report. “Both COVID-19 vaccines available in Hong Kong are safe and highly effective in protecting against serious illness and death from COVID-19 infection,” it read.
Withheld data
The official figures were released hours after Ming Pao’s report analyzing Hospital Authority data on 5,167 Covid-19 deaths, 70 percent of which were unvaccinated. Among those who had been vaccinated, 87 percent had received Sinovac and 12 percent had received BioNTech injection.
It was unclear how Ming Pao got access to the statistics. In february, health authorities refused to disclose data about which Covid-19 vaccine Omicron patients had taken to HKFP, claiming that the information “was not readily available.”
University of Hong Kong (HKU) epidemiologist Ben Cowling previously told the HKFP that a breakdown “certainly” would be beneficial in understanding how well vaccines were able to protect individuals from infection and serious illness.
Despite research into the lower efficacy of Sinovac, more than 75 percent of vaccinated seniors aged 80 or older have opted for the Chinese-made jab, which is perceived to have fewer side effects.
CEO Carrie Lam, who received three Sinovac jobs, has called on the public not to bring politics into “what is a scientific issue for the benefit of Hong Kong.”
Hong Kong has reported 1,047,690 Covid-19 cases and 5,896 deaths as of Sunday.