China’s coronavirus vaccines were supposed to deliver a geopolitical win that showcased the country’s scientific prowess and generosity. Instead, reports The New York Times, in some countries, they have set off a backlash. Officials in Brazil and Turkey have complained that Chinese companies have been slow to ship the doses and ingredients. Disclosures about the Chinese vaccines have been slow and spotty.
The report says the few announcements that have trickled out suggest that China’s vaccines, while considered effective, cannot stop the virus as well as those developed by Pfizer and Moderna, the US drugmakers. In the Philippines, some lawmakers have criticised the government’s decision to buy a vaccine made by a Chinese company, Sinovac. Officials in Malaysia and Singapore, which both ordered doses from Sinovac, have had to reassure their citizens that they would approve a vaccine only if it had been proved safe and effective.
“Right now, I would not take any Chinese vaccine, because there’s insufficient data,” said Bilahari Kausikan, an influential former official at Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He added that he would consider it only with “a proper report.”
At least 24 countries, most of them low and middle income, signed deals with the Chinese vaccine companies because they offered access when richer nations had claimed most of the doses made by Pfizer and Moderna. But the delays in getting the Chinese vaccines and the fact that the vaccines are less effective mean that those countries may take longer to vanquish the virus.
The report says Beijing officials who had hoped the vaccines would burnish China’s global reputation are now on the defensive. State media has started a misinformation campaign against the US vaccines, questioning the safety of the Pfizer and Moderna shots and promoting the Chinese vaccines as a better alternative. It has also distributed online videos that have been shared by the anti-vaccine movement in the US.
George Gao, the head of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, has questioned the safety of the American vaccines because their developers used new techniques rather than the traditional method embraced by Chinese makers.
China had hoped its vaccines would prove it had become a scientific and diplomatic powerhouse. It remains on a par with the US in the number of vaccines approved for emergency use or in late-stage trials.
China’s campaign has been plagued with doubts, however. The New York Times report says that many people have memories of the country’s vaccine scandals. Several governments remain angry about Beijing’s lack of openness about the virus in the early days of the pandemic.
The report says a January YouGov survey of roughly 19,000 people in 17 countries and regions showed that most were distrustful of a COVID-19 vaccine made in China. The misinformation campaign surrounding Western vaccines could further undermine its image.
The delays in shipments to places like Brazil and Turkey have been the latest hitch.
More than 40 countries have expressed an interest in importing Chinese vaccines, according to China’s Foreign Ministry. Several world leaders, including President Reccep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey and President Joko Widodo of Indonesia, have gotten a Sinovac vaccine.
But, the report says, the spotty and inconsistent disclosures about the vaccines remain a problem.
[link url="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/25/business/china-covid-19-vaccine-backlash.html"]Full report in The New York Times (Open access)[/link]
[link url="https://today.yougov.com/topics/health/articles-reports/2021/01/15/how-much-difference-does-it-make-people-where-covi"]YouGov survey[/link]