Inoculation now or later? Lower efficacy and vaccine passport concerns.

This correspondence explores other reasons for vaccine hesitancy especially among the educated sector, as expressed in the decision to delay inoculation because of the lower efficacy of currently available vaccines and/or the lack of access to European Medicines Agency-approved jabs that are required for an European Union vaccine passport. The challenge to promote the common good is posed not only to individuals, but also to governments and international agencies.

A previous article referred to various reasons for vaccine hesitancy: fear of its side-effects, suspicions regarding the vaccine’s efficacy, mistrust of the pharmaceutical industry, as well as, rejection of current Corona measures because of its being tied to a government they are opposed to, or simply due to political apathy. This correspondence adds to this discussion, vaccine hesitancy in the form of individuals delaying inoculation due to the relatively lower efficacy of available vaccines and/or the lack of available European Medicines Agency (EMA)-approved vaccines, especially in developing countries. Only EMA jabs will be recognized in the planned European Union (EU) vaccine passport, which is a certification of COVID-19 vaccination, recovery from the coronavirus, or a fresh negative COVID test for those who could not be vaccinated for various reasons (health, religious, etc.). The thrust in requiring a vaccine passport is to facilitate mobility, participation in in large events, entry to public venues and return to in-person jobs without risk to personal or public safety. It is a way to return back to ‘normal’.

The two concerns intersect since vaccines with relatively high efficacy rates (Pfiezer, Moderna, AstraZeneca, and Johnson and Johnson) are EMA-approved. There are other vaccines though that are efficacious (e.g. Sputnik V and Novavax) that are not yet among the EMA-approved jabs.

The above forms of vaccine hesitancy may be experienced by the more educated sectors and/or individuals who travel to Europe for work or leisure. Critics argue that the proposed EU vaccine passport remains discriminatory to countries that do not have adequate access to the EMA-approved vaccines. Health workers and senior citizens in countries like the Philippines were ‘forced’ to accept the Duterte government’s preferred China-made vaccines to protect themselves from contracting the virus. Hungary, a member of the EU, opposes the restriction to EMA-approved jabs for the certification as most of its citizens have been inoculated with non-EMA-approved vaccines in its bid to attain herd immunity. The rules for travelers inoculated with non-EMA jabs are not yet clear. The unvaccinated who are able to show a fresh negative COVID test may still be required to go into quarantine. While understandable, such quarantine would prove a hassle if one is simply going for a short trip (e.g. attending a conference).

Those who had already received vaccines with lower efficacy pin their hopes in the possibility of mixing vaccines; this means that a person who had received an initial dose of one vaccine can receive a jab of a more efficacious or an EMA-approved vaccine as a second dose. Trials for mixing vaccines are still underway and are currently not yet recommended. Likewise, a booster shot with another vaccine after a year or two may be feasible but this still needs validation.

Furthermore, although the EU vaccine passport is meant to last only during the pandemic, the question is when will the pandemic end? This is likewise uncertain because of a host of factors that include the unclarity as to whether vaccines prevent transmission of the virus, the uneven rollout of the vaccines and the emergence of new variants. A positive development though is that EMA is now conducting a rolling review of Sinovac, Sputnik, CureVac and Novavax but the timeframe of possible approval is not yet clear.

In the meantime, the dilemma remains: to be inoculated now or later when a better vaccine/EMA-approved jab arrives? If one lives in a place where the risk of getting the virus is low it may be better to wait. However, if the risk of catching the virus is high, then vaccination can prevent severe cases and deaths due to COVID-19! The concern for the common good—‘the sum total of social conditions which allow people, either as groups or as individuals, to reach their fulfillment more fully and more easily’ is, however, not only a challenge to individuals but to governments and international agencies that constrain the options available.