China’s COVID-19 vaccine station lags behind US and Europe

China has suppressed the coronavirus by using its authoritarian system to get things done: from building hospitals in days, to flash-testing entire cities and basically closing its vast border.

So when it came time to introduce its homemade COVID-19 vaccines, the world was expecting a vaccination effort of similar speed and ferocity, with the possibility of throwing Western governments in a bad light again.

But seven weeks after China’s campaign, the picture is surprisingly overwhelming. The more than 31.2 million doses administered since the official start date of December 15th have placed second place for the US, with its nearly 35 million shots. But for a population of 1.4 billion, China has delivered just over two doses for every 100 people, compared to three in the European Union, 10 in the US and nearly 60 in Israel, according to Bloomberg’s vaccination track.

The attempt also seems to fall short of an internal goal to vaccinate 50 million people against the Chinese New Year holiday that starts on February 11, which raises questions about whether the world’s second largest economy can remain lazy like the rest of the planet. by herd immunity – begins to open.

“We expected them to take it out as long as the government is willing to enforce it through the top-down mobilization we know it has done in the past,” said Huang Yanzhong, director of the Center. for Global Health Studies in New Jersey, said. Seton Hall University. “Now it looks like we were optimistic.”

The lack of momentum in China is not caused by the distribution hiccups or production shortages seen in places like Europe, and vaccines are being rolled out on more than 25,000 sites, including renamed stadiums, museums and community centers. It has also been issuing several shots since mid-2020 under emergency permission.

Vaccines developed by local developers Sinovac Biotech Ltd. and China National Biotec Group Co. made from Sinopharm can also be easily stored for more than a year at refrigerator temperatures, avoiding the logistical challenges of high-tech mRNA vaccines used in the US. kept in deep freezing and danger can spoil if thawed too early.

Instead, the inertia appears to be due to widespread reluctance among the Chinese population, for reasons ranging from concerns about the safety and level of protection promised by local vaccines to a lack of urgency, with COVID 19 which is mainly confined to winter flares in parts of the north. This could pose a problem for countries and companies that need China – with its more than 1 million overseas students and the world-leading consumer market – and for the country’s own growth prospects, despite its resilience so far.

At the current vaccination rate, China will achieve herd immunity within 5.5 years, compared to 11 months for the US and six months for the UK, according to Bloomberg’s tracker.

“If not vaccinated, it could further delay the opening of China’s borders and weigh on economic growth in the coming years, as it will keep the frequency and intensity of COVID-19 outbreaks and government restrictions higher than necessary, said Louis. Kuijs, Head of Asian Economics at Oxford Economics in Hong Kong. He expects China to accelerate its implementation at some point, taking into account any possible downside.

But unlike the test, quarantines for travelers and locks, Chinese officials do not seem to be enforcing the problem right now.

Vaccination remains voluntary, even for key groups such as medical workers. While other world leaders are rolling up their sleeves to get COVID-19 vaccines for the cameras, it is unclear whether China – including President Xi Jinping – has received shots given to port workers and state-owned enterprises since mid-2020.

The Chinese company, Bloomberg, talked about the demand for vaccines among their workers and the interest ranging from a third to less than half of their employees.

Anne Zhu, an office clerk at a state-owned airline in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province, said she got a chance because some flight attendants who were prioritized for vaccines did not want it, and pushed the administrative staff in the queue . According to Zhu, only 13% of the 1200 employees of the airline were vaccinated at the Wuxi division, citing internal information. It will rise to a third when another group of staff gets shots this coming weekend.

At the Shanghai American School, Kirk Irwin, a social studies teacher, said only about 30% of the school’s faculty, which includes both Chinese citizens and foreigners, received Sinovac’s vaccine when it was offered.

“Some people thought, if I could get it in April or May, I would wait, because everyone feels pretty safe in Shanghai and no one travels overseas,” says Irwin, originally from Canada.

China’s vaccine developers have been criticized for their lack of transparency about the safety and effectiveness of their shots, revealing less data than their Western counterparts. It has been fueled by skepticism in countries such as Pakistan and Indonesia that have been vaccinated with China. As in other countries, medical workers in China are also concerned that they are guinea pigs for the first vaccines.

Sophia Qu, a doctor at a hospital in Guangdong province in southern China, did not accept the vaccine offer because she was worried about negative side effects. Less than half of her colleagues have been vaccinated, she said.

Some in China would also rather wait for a vaccination made abroad, given scandals in the past due to rogue Chinese manufactures.

Jason, a graduate student in Beijing who just wanted to use his first name, said he would wait until the approval of the Pfizer Inc. vaccine in China, with drugmaker Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical Group Co. which is licensed to distribute it. He is concerned that locally developed vaccines do not offer the same protection as the mRNA, with constant uncertainty about their actual efficacy rates, given spotlight and conflicting disclosure.

Also contributing to the lower-than-expected survey is China’s decision to limit only shots to ages 18 to 59, leaving out almost a fifth of the population over 60, contrary to the approach in the US and places like Norway. nursing home residents prioritize.

Due to the success of the birth, China has a very low level of immunity to people who contract the virus, which means that it is more dependent on countries like the US to protect vaccination, especially if it wants to reopen its borders and citizens allow to travel freely again.

At the current rate of vaccination, international travel would have to be restricted for years, said Nicholas Thomas, associate professor of health security at City University of Hong Kong.

While China’s zero – tolerance strategy to cut out the coronavirus has been confirmed by the results, its success can be discounted if the country is unable to keep up with the vaccination, Huang said in Seton Hall.

“The West has done a very poor job of curbing the virus, but if they achieve herd immunity before China, it will send a strong message,” he said. “If the West starts to lock up and open up to each other, it will be a big challenge for that China model.”