Philippine Information Agency
16 Jan 2021, 19:38 GMT+10
CALOOCAN CITY, Jan. 16 (PIA) -- Senator Imee Marcos urged the government to give weight to COVID-19 vaccines that included more Asian participants in their efficacy trials.
"Besides cost, cold storage requirements, ease of use, and the media hype, we must not overlook the Asian factor in choosing the safest vaccines for Filipinos," Marcos said.
Marcos pointed out that three leading vaccine candidates that got emergency use authorization (EUA) in Western countries had conducted trials in which less than 5% of participants were Asian.
The US Food and Drug Administration has reported that only 4.7% of participants in Moderna's vaccine trials were Asian, while the medical journal The Lancet showed that Asians averaged only 4.4% in UK and Brazil trials for the AstraZeneca vaccine.
Although Pfizer placed the overall efficacy of its vaccine at 95%, only 4.3% of trial participants were Asian and efficacy particularly among non-whites was lower at 74.4%.
The lack of a clearer breakdown of various Asian ethnicities in vaccine trials has also led health experts in India to call for greater participation of its ethnically diverse groups before granting an EUA for Western-made vaccines, Marcos said.
"Vaccines may actually be customized in the future," Marcos added, citing a study published in December by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
Using artificial intelligence and a vaccine similar to that of Pfizer and Moderna, MIT researchers found that Asians were less likely to respond to the experimental vaccine than Caucasians. (PIA NCR)
Get a daily dose of Massachusetts Sun news through our daily email, its complimentary and keeps you fully up to date with world and business news as well.
Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to Massachusetts Sun.
More InformationPARIS, France: The French government will not require residents of the Paris region to be locked down this weekend. However, ...
LARISSA, Greece: Central Greece was struck by a magnitude 6.0 earthquake on Wednesday, which was also felt in nearby Albania ...
WASHINGTON D.C.: In a bid to create a much greater supply of Coronavirus vaccines, the White House has announced that ...
AUSTIN, Texas: Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced that beginning next week face masks will no longer be needed to be ...
WASHINGTON D.C.: President Joe Biden says he expects there to be enough vaccinations for all Americans by the end of ...
HOLTVILLE, California: An overloaded SUV carrying as many as 25 passengers slammed into a semi-truck in California on Monday, killing ...
BENGALORE, India: The Covid vaccine manufactured by Bharat Biotech has been found to be 81 percent effective, in an analysis ...
NEW YORK, New York - U.S. stocks rallied on Friday following the release of positive economic data.U.S. employers added 379,000 ...
Subscriptions to Walt Disney Company's Disney+ streaming service surpassed initial estimates, primarily owing to adults from households with no children ...
DUBLIN, Ireland - The Bank of Ireland plans to close some 100 branches, as customers increasingly perform banking transactions online.Bank ...
SYDNEY, NSW, Australia - Another spike in bond yields, and oil prices sent shares in Asia sharply lower on Friday, ...
CARSON CITY, Nevada: Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak has proposed allowing technology companies specializing in blockchain technology to develop "Innovation Zones" ...