KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 20 — Malaysia should determine whether the additional protection offered by higher valency pneumococcal vaccines justifies their higher cost, a consultant paediatrician said.
Consultant paediatrician Dr Musa Mohd Nordin said vaccine selection should be based on the pneumococcal serotypes causing disease among Malaysian children, rather than the number of serotypes covered by a vaccine.
“If moving from PCV13 to PCV15 or PCV20 gives only a small extra benefit for a much higher price, keeping PCV13 could free up money for other important childhood vaccines in the national immunisation programme (NIP),” Dr Musa told CodeBlue when contacted.
He said Malaysia needed stronger laboratory surveillance to determine whether pneumococcal strains not covered by PCV13 were becoming common enough to justify paying more for broader vaccines.
