China’s COVID-19 vaccine is behind the United States and Europe

China has stifled the coronavirus by implementing its authoritarian system to get things done: from building hospitals in a few days to blitz testing entire cities and virtually closing its vast border.

So when it came time to launch its home COVID-19 vaccines, people expected an inoculation effort of similar speed and ferocity, with the potential to throw Western governments back into the dim light.

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 15 have placed it in second place in the United States alone, with almost 35 million photos. However, for a population of 1.4 billion people, China administered just over two doses per 100 people, compared to three in the European Union, 10 in the US and almost 60 in Israel, according to the tracking tool. of the Bloomberg vaccine.

The effort also seems to fail to reach the domestic goal of vaccinating 50 million people for the Chinese New Year celebration, which begins on February 11, raising questions about whether the world’s second-largest economy could remain closed as a result. and the rest of the planet – encouraged by the herd’s immunity – begins to open up.

“We expected them to withdraw it as long as the government is willing to implement 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. Seton Hall University. “Now it seems we have been optimistic.”

China’s lack of momentum is not caused by the distribution hiccups or production deficiencies observed in places like Europe, with vaccines being launched in more than 25,000 places, including rebuilt stadiums, museums and community centers. He also gave some photos under emergency authorization from mid-2020.

Vaccines developed by local developers Sinovac Biotech Ltd. and Sinopharm’s China National Biotec Group Co. they can also be easily stored at refrigerator temperature for over a year, avoiding the logistical challenges of high-tech mRNA vaccines used in the US, which must be kept frozen and run the risk of spoiling if thawed too early.

In contrast, the slowdown seems to be due to the widespread reluctance of the Chinese population, for reasons ranging from concerns about the safety and level of protection promised by local vaccines, to the lack of urgency, with COVID-19 being largely limited to winter appearances in northern parts. This could pose a problem for nations and companies in need of China – with its more than 1 million foreign students and the world’s leading consumer market – to open up to the country’s growth prospects, despite its resilience so far. .

At the current rate of vaccination, China will reach its immunity in just 5.5 years, compared to 11 months for the US and six months for the UK, according to the Bloomberg tracker.

“If vaccination is not accelerated, this could further delay the opening of China’s borders and affect economic growth in the coming years, as it will maintain the frequency and intensity of COVID-19 outbreaks and greater government restrictions than necessary.” said Louis Kuijs, head of Asian economics at Oxford Economics in Hong Kong. He expects China to accelerate its launch at some point, given any potential disadvantage.

But unlike testing, passenger quarantines and blockages, Chinese officials don’t seem to be forcing the issue – for now.

Vaccination remains voluntary, even for key groups such as health workers. As other world leaders roll up their sleeves to get COVID-19 vaccines for cameras, it is unclear whether China – including President Xi Jinping – received photos that were offered to port workers and employees of overseas state-owned companies. year 2020.

With the task of assessing the demand for vaccines among their workers, Chinese companies Bloomberg spoke with reported interest from one-third to less than half of their employees.

Anne Zhu, an official at a state airline in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province, said she was shot because some of her priority flight attendants for the vaccines did not want her, pushing administrative staff in line. Zhu said only 13% of the 1,200 employees of the Wuxi subsidiary were vaccinated, citing domestic information. This will increase to a third when another batch of staff is shot the following weekend.

At the American School in Shanghai, social studies professor Kirk Irwin said that only about 30% of the school’s faculty, which includes both Chinese and foreign nationals, received the Sinovac vaccine when it was offered.

“Some people have thought, if I can get it in April or May, then I’ll wait, because everyone feels pretty safe in Shanghai and no one travels abroad,” said Irwin, who is a native. from Canada.

Vaccine developers in China have been criticized for their lack of transparency regarding the safety and effectiveness of photographs, releasing less data than their Western counterparts. This has fueled skepticism in countries such as Pakistan and Indonesia, which have vaccination agreements with China. As in other countries, Chinese health workers are also worried that they will be guinea pigs for the first vaccines.

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

Some in China would also prefer to wait for a vaccine made abroad, given past scandals over quality shootings made in China.

Jason, a Beijing graduate student who only wanted to use his first name, said he would wait for the Pfizer Inc. vaccine. to be approved in China with Dr. Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical Group Co. He is concerned that locally developed vaccines do not offer the same level of protection as mRNAs, with continuing uncertainty about their actual efficacy rates, given the inappropriate and conflicting disclosures.

Also, the contribution to lower-than-expected absorption is China’s decision to limit shooting to only those between the ages of 18 and 59, leaving out nearly a fifth of the population over the age of 60, as opposed to the approach. from the US and places like Norway, which gives priority to nursing home residents.

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

At the current rate of vaccination, international travel should be limited for years, said Nicholas Thomas, an associate professor of health security at the University of Hong Kong.

While China’s zero-tolerance strategy for coronavirus elimination has been validated by the results, that success is likely to be reduced if the country cannot keep up with vaccination, Huang told Seton Hall.

“The West has done a very poor job in terms of containing the virus, but if they reach the herd’s immunity before China, it will send a strong message,” he said. “If the West starts lifting the blockades and opening up to each other, it will be a big challenge for that model in China.”