Chinese vaccine manufacturers are struggling to meet China’s needs and a growing list of countries, but there are signs that inoculations are going slower than planned.
In the Middle East and North Africa, countries that have relied on Chinese vaccines are facing delays in trying to inoculate their populations. The UAE, the first country outside China to approve a vaccine by Chinese state doctor Sinopharm, has given priority to the elderly, the chronically ill and other selected groups. He had offered shots to everyone, leaving the residents to wait weeks for meetings.
At home, Chinese authorities have distributed more doses than many other countries, but more Western countries are per capita ahead – and China has not started inoculating the elderly due to a lack of clinical trial data for this age group.
China has administered more than 40 million doses since Feb. 9, according to the country’s health commission. This is far from the goal set by health officials at a telephone conference in December with the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, according to people familiar with the issue: distributing 100 million doses before the holiday begins. New Year’s Eve monthly.
China is not alone. Vaccine shipments have been delayed worldwide. But many developing countries rely on China’s vaccines among the few options available and available, and Beijing has made vaccine diplomacy part of its foreign policy.