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Sinovac Vaccine for 5-11 Yo Kids : What You Need To Know!

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You can now get the Sinovac CoronaVac vaccine for your 5-11 year-old kids in Malaysia!

Here is what you need to know!

 

Sinovac Vaccine for 5-11 Yo Kids : Approved In Malaysia!

On 3 March 2022, the Malaysia Health Ministry (KKM) gave conditional approval to the Sinovac CoronaVac COVID-19 vaccine for use in 5-11 year-old children.

This makes the Sinovac CoronaVac the second COVID-19 vaccine to be approved in Malaysia for children 5 to 11 years in age, after the Pfizer COMIRNATY vaccine on 6 January 2022.

It is also the second vaccine to be approved for use in the PICKids COVID-19 vaccination programme for children.

Read more : Malaysia Approves Sinovac Covid-19 Vaccine For 5-11 Yo Kids

 

Sinovac Vaccine for 5-11 Yo Kids : What You Need To Know!

Here is what you need to know about the use of the Sinovac vaccine for 5-11 year old kids in the PICKids vaccination programme for children.

When Will PICKids Offer Sinovac Vaccine For Kids?

PICKids started offering the Sinovac vaccine for 5-11 year-old kids starting 7 March 2022.

What Is Sinovac Vaccine For Kids?

The Sinovac vaccine for 5-11 year old kids is the SAME as the Sinovac vaccine for adults.

This is an inactivated virus vaccine – which uses real SARS-CoV-2 viruses that have been killed (deactivated) using β-propiolactone, a sterilising agent.

What Is The Dose For Kids?

The dose is the same for kids, as it is for adults – 600 SU (3 µg) of inactivated SARS-CoV-2 virus ,together with aluminium hydroxide (as adjuvant) in 0.5 ml of phosphate-buffered saline.

Read more : CoronaVac Vaccine by Sinovac – Your Questions Answered!

What Is The Dose Interval

Children 5-11 years in age will receive two doses, with an interval of 4 weeks between each dose.

Where Is The Vaccine Injected?

Just like in adults, the Sinovac vaccine will be injected into the deltoid muscle of the child’s shoulder.

Who Qualifies For Sinovac Vaccine For Kids?

The Malaysia Ministry of Health recommends the Pfizer COMIRNATY vaccine as the COVID-19 vaccine of choice for children 5-11 years in age.

However, they will offer the Sinovac CoronaVac vaccine to :

  • children who cannot receive the Pfizer COMIRNATY vaccine for health reasons
  • children who do not have co-morbidities
  • children whose parents refuse to allow them to be vaccinated with the Pfizer COMIRNATY vaccine

Read more : Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccine For Kids – What You Need To Know!

Who Must NOT Take Sinovac Vaccine For Kids?

Children who are 5-11 years in age must NOT take the Sinovac vaccine if they have :

  • a history of allergy to any ingredient used in the manufacture of the Sinovac vaccine
  • a severe reaction to the first dose of the Sinovac vaccine
  • severe neurological diseases like transverse myelitis, Guillain-Barre syndrome, demyelinating diseases
  • uncontrolled chronic diseases

Is Sinovac Vaccine For Kids Offered For Free?

The Sinovac vaccine is offered for FREE at all COVID-19 Vaccination Centres (PPVs) under the Malaysia Ministry of Health and ProtectHealth.

The Sinovac vaccine is also available in private clinics and hospitals as a paid vaccination option.

Where Is Sinovac Vaccine For Kids Being Offered?

Parents or guardians can register their children for the vaccine through the MySejahtera app. The appointment will be issued through the parent’s / guardian’s MySejahtera app.

Parents or guardians can also bring their children to selected PPVs to walk-in for their COVID-19 vaccination.

Read more : Full List of Walk-In PICKids Vaccine PPVs in Malaysia!

Sinovac Vaccine For Kids Who Received Pfizer Vaccine

Children who experienced a serious reaction to the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine for children, can receive one dose of the Sinovac vaccine as their second dose, 4 weeks after the first dose.

Children Who Miss Their Vaccine Appointment

Children who miss their appointments, or are not able to make it for health or other unforeseen circumstances, can cancel their appointments and book a new one.

Potential Side Effects Of Sinovac Vaccine

Most side effects of the Sinovac vaccine are mild and temporary, with recovery in just a few days without treatment.

They include pain and swelling at the injection site, fever, headache, nausea, diarrhoea, joint pain, cough, chills, sore throat and runny nose.

When Can Infected Children Get Vaccinated?

Children can get vaccinated against COVID-19, after they fully recover from COVID-19 – at least 14 days after they are infected, and have already completed their isolation.

Read more : When Can You Get Vaccinated After COVID-19 Infection?

 

Should You Get Sinovac Vaccine For 5-11 Yo Kids?

This conditional approval of the Sinovac vaccine will be a relief for many parents who have been holding out for an alternative to the Pfizer COMIRNATY vaccine, and spur vaccination rates.

Back in October 2021, the Malaysia Ministry of Health (KKM) ran a Phase 3 clinical trial to determine the efficacy of the Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine for children 3-11 years in age.

However, they did not reveal what was the efficacy of the Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine for the 5-11 year old age group, or how it performed against the Omicron variant.

We do know that the adult dose was only 50.4% efficacious in preventing symptomatic COVID-19 from the original SARS-CoV-2 virus, and that it has zero efficacy against the Omicron variant (see link and table below).

Read more : What HKU Study Revealed About Pfizer / Sinovac vs. Omicron

COVID-19
Variant		 Seropositive Rate MN Titer (GMT)
Pfizer Sinovac Pfizer Sinovac
HKU691 Omicron 20% 0% 5.43 Min.
HKU344-R346K
Omicron
 24% 0% 6.42 Min.
Delta 100% 68% 124.7 10.3
Beta 100% 0% 25.7 Min.
Alpha 100% 100% 229.4 21.7

It seems very improbable that the same vaccine would impart better efficacy in children, more so against the Delta or Omicron variants.

Until there are good peer-reviewed Phase 3 results of the Sinovac CoronaVac vaccine for 5-11 year-old children, I believe it is far more prudent to vaccinate our children with the Pfizer COMIRNATY paediatric vaccine.

At least the Pfizer paediatric COVID-19 vaccine has been proven in a Phase 3 trial to be 90.7% efficacious in preventing symptomatic COVID-19 infections.

If you want the best protection for your child, get the new Pfizer vaccine for kids. Only consider the Sinovac vaccine if your child has an adverse reaction to the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine.

 

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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

 

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ProtectHealth : No More Walk-In For Vaccine Booster Shots!

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You are NO LONGER allowed to walk-in for your COVID-19 vaccine booster shots, effective IMMEDIATELY!

Here is what you need to know!

 

Earlier : Massive Walk-In Queues For Vaccine Booster Shots!

The COVID-19 vaccine booster shot campaign in Malaysia got off on a slow start, with many people not turning up for their appointments.

But when the Omicron variant was discovered, and started spreading across the world, people started panicking… and getting on standby lists.

Due to the increased demand, vaccination centres started offering walk-in booster shots, but that eventually led to massive queues – which are obviously a BAD IDEA during a pandemic!

In this viral video, you can see a tightly-packed crowd queuing up for the COVID-19 vaccine booster shot at an off-site vaccination centre in Paradigm Mall, Kelana Jaya.

 

ProtectHealth : No More Walk-In For Vaccine Booster Shots!

On 3 January 2021, ProtectHealth – the government-owned corporation managing the National COVID-19 Immunisation Programme (PICK) – said that they will no longer allow walk-in queues for the booster shot, effectively immediately.

This decision came after many vaccination centres across the country were swamped with long queues for the COVID-19 booster dose.

You will now have two options for the COVID-19 vaccine booster dose :

  1. Wait for your booster dose appointment, which will be sent via SMS or MySejahtera
  2. Register for the COVID-19 vaccine standby list, and wait for their call.

Please DO NOT go to the vaccination centres (PPVs) and queue up for your booster dose!

Read more : How to register for the COVID-19 Standby List?

 

Please Support My Work!

Support my work through a bank transfer /  PayPal / credit card!

Name : Adrian Wong
Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp

Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

 

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Vaccine Underdose : What Should You Watch Out For?

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A potential problem COVID-19 vaccination is getting an underdose. Basically, less vaccine than what we are supposed to get.

Find out what vaccine underdose is all about, and how to avoid it!

 

Vaccine Underdose : What Is It?

A vaccine underdose is what happens when you receive less than the recommended dose of a vaccine.

This can happen by accident, or intentionally, but the end result is the same – you may end up with insufficient vaccine, or none at all.

Recently, two people reported that they received an underdose of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine. Anoogrehan Manoharan noticed it when he looked back at a video he took.

In his case, it seems pretty obvious that he received a vaccine underdose. He received a second vaccination – the full recommended dose four days later.

 

Vaccine Underdose : How Could It Happen?

There is always the possibility of intentional underdose by someone who is secretly anti-vaccination.

But accidental vaccine underdose can happen, especially in high-volume vaccinations.

Injection Volume Mix-Up

Different COVID-19 vaccines may have different injection volumes, as the table below shows.

This error can happen in vaccination centres that have more than one COVID-19 vaccine at hand

Of course, this obviously did not happen at the AstraZeneca vaccination centre, because they only deal exclusively with the Vaxzevria vaccine.

Vaccines Dose Volume
Pfizer COMIRNATY 0.3 ml
AstraZeneca Vaxzevria 0.5 ml
Sinovac CoronaVac 0.5 ml

Preparation Error

Some COVID-19 vaccines – like the Pfizer vaccine – must be mixed with saline and then drawn out into syringes for administration.

It has happened before that the vial was mistakenly filled with saline TWICE, leading to highly diluted doses.

This can happen if one staff member pre-fills the vials with saline, but is called away; and another staff member continues but does not realise that the vials have already been filled with saline.

Accidental Wastage

The nurse or doctor may have accidentally depressed the plunger while handling the syringe, without realising it.

This could happen while switching needles, or just before injecting it into the vaccine recipient.

They are supposed to check before injecting the vaccine, but mistakes can happen, especially if they are tired or overworked.

Low Dead Volume Syringe

To extract the maximum number of doses per vial, healthcare workers are using special low dead-volume (LDV) syringes.

These LDV syringes have longer plunger heads (the black rubber part). What we may think is just 0.3 ml is, in reality, 0.5 ml on an LDV syringe.

This may mislead people into thinking that they received less than the actual dose of the vaccine.

 

Vaccine Underdose : How To Prevent It?

There are a few ways to prevent vaccine underdose.

  1. Use only one vaccine at each vaccination centre.
  2. If a vaccination centre should offer multiple vaccine options, then vaccination teams should be exclusively trained with one vaccine and not switch between vaccines.
  3. Vaccine doses should ideally be pre-filled and labelled (with date, time of preparation and recommended volume) and shown to the vaccine recipient before administration.
  4. Vaccine recipients should ask to see the syringe, and double-check the volume and preparation date, before receiving the vaccination.

  1. Vaccine recipients should also ask to record a video of the vaccination process.
  2. After the vaccine dose is injected into the recipient, the empty syringe should be shown to the vaccine recipient.
  3. If manpower permits, a third person – nurse or compliance officer – should be present to witness and help double-check the vaccine dose in each syringe, as well as the vaccination process.

 

Vaccine Underdose : What Should You Do?

If you believe you received an underdose of your COVID-19 vaccine, you should reach out to the healthcare provider who administered the vaccine.

Ideally, you should be vaccinated again with the correct dose; or a “top-up dose”, if they are able to determine the shortfall.

Here in Malaysia, you can reach out to the ProtectHealth Corporation – a private entity created by Malaysia Health Ministry to manage the national COVID-19 vaccination programme.

  • Telephone : 03-8687-2525 / 2588
  • Email : vaksincovid@protecthealth.com.my

 

Help Support My Work!

If you would like to support my work, you can do so via bank transfer /  PayPal / credit card.

Name : Adrian Wong

Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp
Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)

Thank you in advanced! ❤️

 

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