Sinovac Vaccine Against Hoax, What Should The Government Do?

Illustration of the COVID-19 (Unsplash) vaccine

JAKARTA - The hoax issue of the COVID-19 vaccine originating from China, Sinovac, has returned to circulation and has finally been responded to by the government. One of them said, the vaccine to be circulated was only for clinical trials or only for clinical trials.

Responding to this, the spokesman for the COVID-19 vaccine from PT Bio Farma, Bambang Herianto emphasized that the information circulating since Saturday, January 2 on various social media, is not true. The reason is that all vaccines used in the national vaccination program will use a type of vaccine that has received permission from the Food and Drug Supervisory Agency (BPOM).

"We confirm that the COVID-19 vaccine, which is currently in Bio Farma and which will be used for the vaccination program, will use vaccines that have obtained permission to use from BPOM so that the packaging will be different from the vaccines used for clinical trials," he said. Bambang was quoted as saying in a written statement on the Ministry of Health's website, Monday, January 4.

According to him, Corovac packaging for clinical trials usually uses a pre-filled syringe (PFS) packaging or syringe and the vaccine in one package. Meanwhile, the vaccine to be given is packaged in a single dose vial and will not only be for clinical trial because the license to use it already exists.

Furthermore, he clarified the issue of the COVID-19 vaccine from Sinovac containing dangerous preservatives such as borax, formalin, and others. Bambang said, the 3 million doses of the vaccine did not contain such dangerous preservatives.

According to him, this vaccine is safe because it has gone through development stages and a series of rigorous tests so that its quality, safety, and effectiveness are under the supervision of BPOM and have met international standards.

Finally, Bambang also clarified another issue, namely the Sinovac vaccine which is said to contain vero cells. According to him, this information is not accurate because the vaccine from China does not contain these cells.

He explained that vero cells or vero cells are only used as a medium for the development and growth of viruses in the duplication process as raw material for vaccines. Vero cells are a cell line present in the kidneys of African green monkeys.

Vero cells, he continued, must be used to keep the virus in the vaccine alive. However, in the final process of the vaccine, these cells will be separated from the virus which will be used in the vaccine.

"Thus, the final product of the vaccine, it is certain that it will no longer contain these vero cells," he said.

Actually, this is not the only time the hoax issue has hit the Sinovac vaccine. One hoax issue that was busy was that the Sinovac vaccine was once called the weakest vaccine based on an assessment of the World Health Organization (WHO).

This issue was denied by the government by saying there was no official document and information from WHO which stated that it had made comparisons between vaccine candidates to be used in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The government must prepare a communication strategy

The government must immediately address the many hoax issues leading up to vaccination to prevent the public from becoming skeptical. Epidemiologist from Australia's Griffith University, Dicky Budiman said that every effort to vaccinate an infectious disease requires vaccine safety communication or communication related to the implementation of vaccines.

"There are three things that the government actually has to build in relation to this vaccination program. That is important and they cannot be ignored. One of them is because they are all essential," said Dicky when contacted by VOI.

First, said Dicky, the government must be able to provide an explanation in accordance with the conditions of its people. The government, he continued, must clearly communicate the benefits or benefits of vaccines to the risks.

The second thing that must be done by the government is to straighten out the fake news in society. He said, hoax news related to this vaccine needed to be straightened out quickly so that public trust was not degraded and had to be done thoroughly.

"Third, prepare for post-immunization events or unwanted events or what WHO calls a vaccine safety crisis. So if there is anything there must be anticipation. Although it is rare and generally not related to vaccine products, it can still be disruptive if not anticipated," he said.

"This is the government's homework. Even though the first phase of the vaccine is for health workers, it is still for all people (preparations, ed) it must be done at this time," he concluded.