Expert Assures Sinovac Vaccine Still Effective for 1-2 Years
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5 March 2021 13:59 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The head researcher of the Sinovac Covid-19 vaccine in Indonesia, Kusnandi Rusmil, on Friday said that the vaccines produced by the Chinese pharmaceutical firm is able to tackle new covid variants such as the Sars-Cov-2 B117.
He assured that the current use of the Sinovac vaccine will be safe and effective for the nationwide immunization. “This vaccine will be able to handle the virus in the next year or two,” said Kusnandi to Tempo on March 5.
He said that viruses in nature will always mutate to adapt to the environment.
Even though the current sinovac vaccine remains effective for today's Covid-19 vaccination, but at one point, it will be changed to a more effective one in the future.
“Just like the influenza virus where its strain is replaced every year,” said the researcher at the University of Padjadjaran.
Kusnandi asserted that maximizing the use of Sinovac vaccines in Indonesia’s initial vaccination phase is essential to reach 60-70 percent herd immunity as another alternative, AstraZeneca, has only arrived in Indonesia recently.
Read: Task Force Claims Sinovac Vaccine Effective to Tackle New Covid-19 Variant
EGI ADYATAMA
