THE HEALTH | MARCH-APRIL , 2022
| Local News |
Pharmaniaga misrepresented Sinovac-Pfizer combo , says MoH
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PHARMANIAGA Bhd ’ s claim of lower heterologous boosting effectiveness for Sinovac primary vaccination recipients against Omicron was refuted by the Institute for Clinical Research ( ICR ) of the Ministry of Health ( MoH ).
The pharmaceutical company ’ s statement contradicts a tweet posted by Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin last November , which stated that “ for Sinovac recipients , a Pfizer booster is the best choice to increase your level of protection ”.
The current facts and evidence cited by Pharmaniaga in its statement on Feb 9 , 2022 , were misrepresented , according to the ICR .
“ Globally , there is emerging and consistent evidence that heterologous booster vaccination results in more robust immune responses and is more effective than homologous boosting for recipients of primary series of inactivated vaccines ( Sinovac ),” ICR said in its statement on Feb 10 , 2022 .
It cited a study from the Dominican Republic that found that participants who had received two doses of Sinovac had undetectable neutralisation against the Omicron variant .
Meanwhile , compared to only two doses of mRNA vaccine , a Pfizer
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booster ( heterologous mRNA vaccine booster ) resulted in 1.4 times more neutralisation activity against Omicron .
Despite this increase , neutralising antibody titres for Omicron were still lower than for ancestral and Delta variants .
“ In this study , there was no homologous booster ( Sinovac ) group of participants to allow comparison between heterologous and homologous boosting regimens .”
The ICR also highlighted two separate studies comparing heterologous and homologous booster regimens for Sinovac primary series recipients , conducted in Hong Kong and Brazil , respectively .
“ In a study done in Hong Kong , a heterologous Pfizer booster following two doses of Sinovac improved neutralising antibody levels against Omicron at three to five weeks postbooster dose , but three doses of Sinovac failed to elicit neutralising antibody responses to the new variant in most recipients .
“ In another study conducted in Brazil , heterologous booster doses with AstraZeneca , Janssen , and Pfizer vaccines resulted in more robust immune responses than homologous
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boosting .
“ The study found that heterologous booster doses substantially increased the neutralising capacity of serum samples against both Delta and Omicron variants ( at least 90 per cent seropositive after booster ), compared to strikingly lower responses observed after a homologous Sinovac booster with only 35 per cent becoming
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seropositive against Omicron ,” it said .
Khairy said at a press conference that recipients of Sinovac vaccination primer doses could choose the same brand for booster shots .
“ Although MoH still believes in encouraging them to take Pfizer or AstraZeneca booster doses , taking any booster is better than no booster ,” he said .
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HPKK UKM renamed Hospital Tunku Ampuan Besar Tuanku Aishah Rohani
ON MARCH 1 , 2022 , the HPKK UKM ( Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Specialist Children ’ s Hospital ) was renamed Hospital Tunku Ampuan Besar Tuanku Aishah Rohani .
Health Director-General Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah expressed his appreciation to the Yang Dipertuan Besar of Negeri Sembilan Tuanku Muhriz Tuanku Munawir , who is UKM chancellor , and Tunku Ampuan Besar of Negeri Sembilan Tuanku Aishah Rohani Tengku Besar Mahmud for attending the renaming ceremony at the said hospital .
“ The operations of this paediatric specialist hospital will further strengthen the sustainability of the multidisciplinary paediatric expertise for future generations ,” he said .
HPKK UKM , he said , is equipped with a variety of diagnostic facilities and the latest treatments for the healthcare of children of all ages .
“ As a paediatric tertiary referral centre , HPKK UKM has a capacity of 243 patient beds ,” said Dr Noor Hisham in his Facebook .
According to Noor Hisham , anesthesiologists , internal medicine specialists , emergency physicians , medical officers , graduate medical officers , nurses , and assistant medical officers are among the hospital ’ s 575 employees .
In June of last year , he said , the hospital was converted into a Covid-19 hospital to cater to the Klang Valley ’ s critical bed needs .
Following this , on June 17 , 2021 , HPKK received Covid-19 patients ,
and its operations helped to increase hospital bed capacity to 28 in the Intensive Care Unit ( ICU ) and 149 non-ICU beds , he said .
He added that during HPKK UKM ’ s time as a Covid-19 hospital , 842 patients in categories four and five were treated there , most of them referred from the Malaysia Agro Exposition Park ( MAEPS ) Low-Risk Covid-19 Quarantine and Treatment Centre ( PKRC ). On Oct 15 , HPKK UKM resumed full service to children .
Yayasan Sultan Ibrahim Johor donates medical equipment worth over RM28 mil
IN AN ongoing effort to combat the spread of Covid-19 , Yayasan Sultan Ibrahim Johor ( YSIJ ) in collaboration with Temasek Foundation of Singapore , donated various medical equipment worth RM28 million .
On March 5 , 2022 , Sultan Ibrahim Almarhum Sultan Iskandar , the Sultan of Johor , presented the contribution to Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin at Istana Pasir Pelangi .
Also present was the Tunku Mahkota of Johor , Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim .
Sultan Ibrahim shared on His Royal Highness ’ Facebook page that the Ministry of Health ( MoH ) received 400 units of non-invasive ventilators worth over RM8 million , and the Johor State Health Department received various medical equipment worth over RM10 million . Face shields , KN95 face masks , ventilators , dialysis machines , mobile swabbing units , and non-invasive ventilators were among the items received by the State Health Department . — The Health