[ad_1]
More Asian countries are abandoning Chinese vaccines, and a Pacific island nation has delayed their approval over concerns over their reduced levels of protection against CCP virus infections, further validating a recent suggestion that the window of opportunity is shrinking for the Chinese Communist Party. (PCC) what is called “vaccine diplomacy”.
Millions of people have received Chinese-made Sinovac or Sinopharm vaccines across Asia, but Thailand and Indonesia decided last month to abandon Chinese vaccines as the primary approach against COVID-19, the disease caused by the CCP virus.
Thailand said on July 12 it would opt for Britain’s AstraZeneca vaccine as the second dose for people who had received the Sinovac vaccine as their first dose. Meanwhile, the Indonesian government began from July 16 giving medical workers, who had already received two injections of the Sinovac vaccine, an additional injection of the Moderna vaccine made in the United States.
The two countries’ decisions came after reports were released about how health workers still contracted the CCP virus, and some of them died, despite being fully vaccinated with Chinese vaccines. For example, in Indonesia, while 95% of Indonesian health workers have been fully vaccinated, 131 of them have died since June, including 50 in July, according to independent data group Lapor COVID-19, Reuters reported.
By choosing to switch vaccines, the Thai and Indonesian governments “were basically saying they were concerned about vaccine failure,” Dale Fisher, chairman of the Outbreak Alert and Response Network, told the BBC in late July. the World Health Organization.
In Bangkok, Thailand, protesters took to the streets on July 18 calling on the prime minister to step down due to alleged mismanagement of the CCP virus pandemic. Protesters also called on the government to buy mRNA vaccines to replace Sinovac, which is widely seen as inferior in Thailand, VOA reported.
Closure of the “Vaccine Diplomacy” opportunity
Recent developments with Thailand and Indonesia come after Huang Yanzhong, senior researcher for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations, told the BBC in May that China’s window of opportunity for the so-called ” Vaccine diplomacy ”may soon close amid efforts by the United States and other Western countries to help deliver vaccines to foreign countries.
He added that the reduced protection of Chinese vaccines may have already eroded people’s confidence in them, thus undermining the soft power that the CCP had acquired through its “vaccine diplomacy.”
Huang’s comments come as the United States plans to deliver 80 million doses of the vaccine overseas, announced in May. The commitment includes 20 million doses of Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines, as well as 60 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccines.
In the Pacific region, Papua New Guinea had received an announcement from the CCP in February that it would send Sinopharm vaccines in response to the increase in CCP virus cases in the island nation.
But despite an increase in CCP virus cases and despite the fact that the CCP provided clinical trial data for the Sinopharm vaccine, PNG delayed the rollout of the Chinese vaccine for months until the WHO gave it to him. gives emergency approval in May. But by then, PNG had found other alternatives, including AstraZeneca vaccines via Australia or through the COVAX program led by the WHO.
Pacific public health expert Colin Tukuitonga told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that some data suggests the efficacy of the Sinopharm vaccine in preventing infections “is clearly less than reported for Pfizer and AstraZeneca” .
Clinical trials around the world suggest that Sinovac and Sinopharm’s inactivated virus vaccines are approximately 50-79% effective in preventing symptomatic CCP virus infections. In comparison, studies suggest that the Pfizer vaccine may be 95% effective after two doses, and that the AstraZeneca vaccine is 76% effective.
Jonathan Pryke, director of the Pacific Islands program at the Lowy Institute, told CNN at the end of July that despite an excellent opportunity to strengthen its influence without incurring large expenses, the CCP appeared to have “failed in action.” and his efforts had been “token” in the midst of the pandemic.
Data from British analytics firm Airfinity in late July via CNN showed that the CCP has so far donated 270,000 vaccines to the Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu, less than half of the amount donated by Australia.
In China, more than 1.62 billion doses of CCP virus vaccines have been administered, with more than 223 million people fully vaccinated. Despite high levels of immunization in a country of 1.39 billion people, new epidemics have recently emerged in 21 cities in seven provinces, including Nanjing, Beijing, Guangdong, Anhui and Liaoning.
The latest wave of the epidemic since July 20 saw 185 local cases of the CCP virus reported in Nanjing on Friday. Nanjing government spokesperson dodged a question at a press conference on Friday to find out how many of the 185 infected patients had been vaccinated.
Chinese state media China News reported that 22 of the first 35 local cases in Nanjing involved employees at Nanjing Lukou International Airport, which is owned by Eastern Airports Group. According to Eastern Airports, as of May 12, the total number of employees vaccinated was 9,251, which represents an immunization rate of 90.87%.
Mimi Nguyen Ly contributed to this report.
[ad_2]
Source link