Chinese vaccine lie exposed: Countries relying on Chinese vaccines face Covid surge

World

Amid uncertainty over the third wave and how long the pandemic is going to last, countries, who relied on Chinese vaccines, are now facing a Covid-19 surge. Even though the Chinese vaccines are easily available, examples from Mongolia, Seychelles and Bahrain, which mostly relied on Sinopharm and Sinovac, are now suggesting that they might not be reliable and effective against the new variants, as pointed by The New York Times’ latest report. 

These three countries quickly rolled out the vaccination programme and inoculated about 50 to 68 per cent of its population with the Chinese vaccines, outpacing even the United States. However, now these countries are battling a massive surge in Covid-19 cases, casting a doubt on the efficacy of these vaccines. 

Jin Dongyan, a virologist at the University of Hong Kong, has stated that if the vaccines are sufficiently good then we should not see this pattern. He added that the Chinese have a responsibility to remedy this. 

Even as China continues its vaccine diplomacy, countries like Mongolia, Seychelles and Bahrain, are now recording Covid-19 cases at a record pace. Defending the Chinese vaccines, officials in Seychelles and Mongolia have stated that Sinopharm is effective in preventing severe cases of Covid-19. Chinese foreign ministry, on the other hand, has shuddered its responsibility by stating that it does not see a link between the recent outbreaks and Chinese vaccines.