Sudden COVID-19 outbreaks depict lack of efficacy of Chinese vaccines: Report

INTERNATIONAL DESK: China’s sudden COVID-19 outbreaks “demonstrate a lack of effectiveness of its vaccines”, prompting global concerns, particularly in nations where Beijing’s vaccines have been accepted, Tibet Press reported.

Turkish government which initially accepted Chinese vaccines is now scrutinising its efficacy after learning of China’s involvement in data tempering of side effects only to enhance its vaccine sale, as per the news report. In December 2020, Indonesia and Brazil initially reported 97 per cent and 78 per cent efficacy in Chinese vaccines.

In 2021, Indonesia and Brazil reduced the efficacy to 65 per cent and 50.4 per cent. Both nations raised concerns over the major side effects of COVID vaccine. After the resurgence of COVID-19 cases and deaths, Thailand and Singapore stopped the use of Chinese vaccines and began using vaccines made by AstraZeneca and Pfizer, according to Tibet Press.

By 2021, China administered 2.4 billion doses to its citizens, and almost 1.3 billion vaccine doses were distributed around the world. By 2022, Sinopharm claimed to have distributed more than 3.5 billion doses across the world.

Majority of the imports of Chinese vaccines were made by Indonesia, Brazil, Pakistan, Turkey, Iran, Philippines, Morocco, Thailand, Argentina, Venezuela, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Chile, Mexico, and Bangladesh, as per the news report.
According to “Statistical Table of Adverse Reactions to COVID-19 Vaccines”(2022) published by Laishui County’s community health centre in Baoding City of Hebei Province, people injected with Chinese vaccines have suffered adverse reactions including fever, nausea, diarrhoea, and more deaths, according to Tibet Press report.

A document issued by the Baoding Municipal Leadership Team for Epidemic Response that leaked online claimed that Chinese authorities quarantined a person for 47 days despite being fully vaccinated with vaccines made in China.

Documents that were leaked were labelled as “extra urgent and non-disclosure to the public” and they called for an increase in the monitoring of people with adverse reactions which resulted in China launching a “zero-COVID policy,” as per the news report.

The Baoding Municipal Government’s Foreign Affairs Office issued policies saying that “those tested IgM positive must be quarantined at a centralised site” and released only after testing negative.

The Chinese authorities conduct rapid tests as IgM appears in the early stages of COVID-19. However, it is unusual for IgM antibodies to test positive after being vaccinated and quarantined for nearly 47 days. This is how China implemented its zero-COVID policy after its vaccines failed to deliver what it promised, according to Tibet Press.

Notably, China’s zero-COVID policy involved stringent measures, including imposing lockdowns, mass testing and travel restrictions. China started taking steps to address this issue by producing the world’s first “inhalable COVID vaccine” targeting elderly people.

Over 60 per cent of people surveyed in the Chinese province of Sichuan said that they tested positive for Covid-19, NHK World reported citing a survey.

The authorities in Sichuan province conducted an online survey where 158,500 people participated and 63 per cent said their PCR or antigen test results came back positive. The province has a population of approximately 83 million.
Meanwhile, the Sichuan Center for Disease Control and Prevention said the true percentage of infected people was likely higher, since nearly 30 per cent of those who did not undergo any tests complained of symptoms such as fever and cough, according to NHK World.

The surge in cases comes after China relaxed its coronavirus containment measures on December 7. (ANI)