During Roya’s news bulletin Tuesday, a member of the Epidemics Committee and a member of the National Vaccination Advisory Committee, Munir Abu Hilaleh stressed that there should be a scientific-based health protocol for selecting vaccines for every citizen or resident when taking the COVID-19 vaccine in the health care centers.

Abu Hilaleh said that the vaccination committee is drawing up a protocol for vaccinations in Jordan.

For those who wish to take COVID-19 vaccines, it is preferable for them to not have the freedom to ‘pick’ which vaccine they desire to take, said Abu Hilaleh. However, a protocol must be drawn up from a scientific standpoint in order to efficiently match the vaccine with the patient depending on their age, their medical history (illness or chronic diseases), and their gender, he added.

There must be a committee to decide who takes what vaccine based on what is available, Abu Hilaleh said.

Due to a lack of protocol, there appears to be fear and a lack of trust among citizens and residents who demand to have the right to select between vaccines, said Abu Hilaleh, stressing that there should be a ‘partnership’ between health authorities and those taking the vaccines, indicating that transparency is critical.

The best approach to guarantee a successful vaccination program to end this pandemic is through a clear and concise scientific approach, he said.

Abu Hilaleh gave examples of eligible candidates for certain vaccines. From a scientific standpoint, we found it unwise to administer a Pfizer vaccine to those who have auto-immune diseases such as thyroid issues, he said.

He stated that such decisions have been made due to Pfizer not disclosing information related to certain auto-immune diseases in their vaccine trials.

He added that in such cases, it may be preferable to administer the Sinopharm vaccine.

He pointed out that the committee has attempted to contact Pfizer on multiple occasions to obtain accurate information about vaccine efficacy, but the company has yet to respond.

Every vaccine is different, said Abu Hilaleh. So those with certain medical issues may be able to take one vaccine and not the other, and this is due to the way vaccines are manufactured.