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

China suffocated the coronavirus by deploying its authoritarian system to get things done: from building hospitals in days, to intermittent testing of entire cities, and basically sealing its vast border.

Therefore, when it came time to deploy its self-produced COVID-19 vaccines, the world expected an inoculation effort of similar speed and ferocity, with the potential to re-launch Western governments in a poor light. .

But seven weeks into China’s campaign, the picture is surprisingly disappointing. The more than 31.2 million doses administered since the official start date of December 15 placed it in second place in the United States alone, with its nearly 35 million shots. However, for a population of 1.4 billion people, China has administered just over two doses per 100 people, compared to three in the European Union, 10 in the US and about 60 in Israel, according to the Bloomberg vaccine tracker.

The effort also appears to be failing to reach the domestic goal of vaccinating 50 million people for the Chinese New Year holiday that begins on February 11 and raises questions about whether the world’s second-largest economy may remain closed. like the rest of the planet. by herd immunity – begins to open.

“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 New Jersey Center for Global Health Studies. Seton Hall University. “Now it looks like we’ve been optimistic.”

China’s lack of momentum is not due to distribution difficulties or production deficiencies observed in places like Europe, as vaccines extend to more than 25,000 places, including reused stadiums, museums and community centers. Since mid-2020 some shots are also being fired under emergency clearance.

Vaccines developed by local developers Sinovac Biotech Ltd. and China National Biotec Group Co. of Sinopharm can also be easily stored at refrigerator temperature for more than a year, avoiding the logistical challenges of high-tech mRNA vaccines used in the US, which must be kept in deep freezing and run the risk of deterioration if thawed too soon.

Instead, the slowness seems to be due to the widespread hesitation of the Chinese population, for reasons ranging from the concern for safety and the level of protection promised by local vaccines to the lack of urgency. , with COVID-19 being largely limited to winter eruptions in northern parts. This could pose a problem for nations and companies that need to open up China, with its more than one million foreign students and the world’s leading consumer market, and for its own growth prospects. country, despite its resistance so far.

At current vaccination rates, China will achieve herd immunity in just 5.5 years, compared to 11 months in the United States and six months in the United Kingdom, 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 restrictions. higher than necessary, ”said Louis Kuijs, head of Asian economics at Oxford Economics in Hong Kong. He hopes China will accelerate its deployment at some point, aware of any potential disadvantages.

But unlike tests, quarantines and passenger closures, Chinese officials don’t seem to force the problem, for 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 cameras, it is unclear whether China, including President Xi Jinping, has received shots that have been fired at port workers and employees of state-owned companies headed abroad from mid-2020.

Faced with measuring the demand for vaccines among their workers, Chinese companies Bloomberg spoke with an interest ranging from a third to less than half of their employees.

Anne Zhu, an employee of a state airline office in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province, said she was shot because some flight attendants prioritized for vaccines did not want them, which pushed administrative staff into the queue. Zhu said only 13% of the airline’s 1,200 employees at the Wuxi branch have been vaccinated, citing domestic information. This will increase by up to a third when another group of staff receives shots over the next weekend.

At Shanghai American School, social studies teacher Kirk Irwin said only 30% of school teachers, which includes Chinese and foreign nationals, received the Sinovac vaccine when it was offered.

“Some people were thinking, if I can get it in April or May, I’ll wait, because everyone feels pretty safe in Shanghai and no one travels abroad,” said Irwin, originally from Canada.

China’s vaccine developers have been criticized for their lack of transparency about the safety and effectiveness of their shots, publishing less data than their Western counterparts. This fueled skepticism in countries like Pakistan and Indonesia that have vaccine deals with China. As in other countries, medical workers in China are also concerned about being 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 is concerned about the negative side effects. Less than half of his teammates were vaccinated, he said.

Some in China also prefer to wait for a foreign-made vaccine, given the past of scandals over poor quality shots made in China.

Jason, a graduate student in Beijing who only wanted to use his first name, said he would wait for approval of the Pfizer Inc. vaccine. in China, licensed by distributor Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical Group Co. It is concerned that locally developed vaccines do not provide the same level of protection as mRNA vaccines, with continued uncertainty about their actual efficacy rates, given the irregular and conflicting disclosures.

China’s decision to limit traits only to people aged 18 to 59, contributing to lower-than-expected adoption, leaves out almost a fifth of the population over the age of 60, in contrast to the approach from the United States and places like Norway, which are giving priority to residential residents.

Given its containment success, China has a very low level of immunity for people who get the virus, which means it depends more on vaccination than countries like the United States to protect its people, especially if it wants to open up. its 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 Hong Kong City University.

Although China’s zero-tolerance strategy to eliminate coronavirus has been validated by the results, this success runs the risk of being discounted if the country cannot continue vaccination, Huang told Seton Hall.

“The West has done a very poor job of containing the virus, but if they get the herd’s immunity before China, it will send a strong message,” he said. “If the West begins to lift blockades and open up to each other, it will be a great challenge for this Chinese model.”