[ Reuters ] Indonesia, Thailand consider booster shots amid doubts over Sinovac vaccine

But the challenges facing Southeast Asia are much bigger. Many countries in the region rely heavily on Chinese vaccines due to tight supplies of Western products, and have low vaccination rates of less than 10%.

They are also battling a record-breaking surge in new cases and deaths, led by the highly contagious Delta variant, while rising infections among medical workers despite being fully immunised with the Sinovac shots have stretched already thin healthcare systems.

“There’s a lot of doctors and medical workers who have been vaccinated twice but endured medium and severe symptoms, or even died,” Slamet Budiarto, deputy chief of the Indonesian Medical Association, told parliament on Monday.

Indonesia has vaccinated millions of its healthcare workers with the Sinovac shot and thousands of them are now testing positive for COVID-19.

“It is the time for medical workers to get a third booster to protect them from the impact of more vicious and worrying new variants,” said Melki Laka Lena, deputy chairman of the parliamentary commission overseeing health.

Siti Nadia Tarmizi, an official from Indonesia’s health ministry, said it is waiting for recommendations from immunization advisory group and Indonesia’s Food and Drug Agency (BPOM) about the use of a booster shot.

While some real world data showed the Sinovac vaccine is effective against hospitalisation and severe COVID-19 cases, there is no detailed data yet on its effectiveness against the Delta variant, first identified in India.