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China's Largest Covid Vaccine Sinovac, Distrib to Other Nations Isn't Preventing New Variants Spread
Last edited Thu Jun 24, 2021, 10:44 AM - Edit history (1)
- Indonesia: A health worker (R) administers the Sinovac vaccine.
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'China's largest COVID-19 vaccine isn't preventing spread of new variants, may be a pending disaster,' Daily Kos, By Mark Sumner, June 23, 2021. Excerpts, - Ed.
In looking at the issues in South America on Tuesday, one thing was clear: Despite high levels of vaccination in countries like Chile and Uruguay, these nations are at or near record highs for new cases of COVID-19. Statistics from Our World in Data show that these examples are far from alone. Around the world, there are a number of nations that have high levels of vaccination, but continue to have new waves of COVID-19. Meanwhile, there are other nations—the United States among them—that have lower rates of vaccination, but have seen a dramatic drop in cases.
The current situation in the United States, and in other nations that have fallen well short of reaching the level of vaccination needed to restrict community spread, is far from a guarantee of future conditions. It’s still possible, even likely, that the U.S. will experience a “fourth wave” of cases in the fall as indoor activities increase and Republican vaccine hesitancy leaves many areas with a high percentage of the population unvaccinated. But some nations are already seeing a new wave of COVID-19. Driven by the Delta and Gamma variants, health care systems in many South American nations are now taxed at record levels. That’s true in nations with vaccination rates significantly higher than in the United States, as well as those where vaccination rates are low. And the reason for this seems to be that the vaccines being used in those nations are simply not working to stop infections.
Part of that is China’s fault. Part of it is ours.
When comparing vaccination rates in North and South America, there are some large inequities. The United States is well above one cluster of nations, but significantly below levels in Canada, Chile, and Uruguay. (SEE Graphs at the Link). But at the same time, North and South America look like not just different continents, but separate worlds when it comes to the rate of new COVID-19 cases. The overlapping rates of vaccination that seem to place both sets of nations on the same playing field break down into two very distinct groups when it comes to the current rate of new cases. In the north, the pandemic might even be seen to be over. In the south, it is very much raging.
Rather than seeing a decline after the January peak, many of these nations are seeing a new wave that’s far worse than previous levels. Uruguay has reached new infection rates equaling 1% of the total population each week. And yet, Uruguay is up there near the top of the chart when it comes to vaccination. Over 62% of its total population has received at least one vaccination. That’s almost 10% higher than the U.S. So why is one nation recovering as the other is seeing a huge increase in cases? It’s not the number of vaccinations—it’s the type of vaccine. While the U.S. has seen vaccinations from Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson, almost all the vaccinations in Uruguay and several other South American nations have been Sinovac, manufactured by China’s Sinovac Biotech. As the NYT reports, over 90 countries are depending largely on Sinovac or other Chinese-developed vaccines for multiple reasons. One is that China has made these vaccines widely available at little or no cost...
Read More, 110 Comments,
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2021/6/23/2036670/-China-s-largest-COVID-19-vaccine-isn-t-preventing-spread-of-new-variants-may-be-a-pending-disaster
- Comment, Mark Sumner, Author: Yes, but — a vaccine that doesn’t prevent community spread is a guarantee that a disease will not be eliminated. Not getting severely ill or facing death for the individual is terrific. But if the vaccine allows people to not just get ill, but continue to transmit the virus, it’s not really acting to restrict future spread. It’s a critical difference...
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ETA: - Also: 'Sinovac: Brazil results show Chinese vaccine 50.4% effective.' BBC News, Jan. 13, 2021. A coronavirus vaccine developed by China's Sinovac has been found to be 50.4% effective in Brazilian clinical trials, according to the latest results released by researchers. It shows the vaccine is significantly less effective than previous data suggested - barely over the 50% needed for regulatory approval...
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-55642648
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- Also: 'China’s Sinovac Vaccine Under Scrutiny As Covid Soars In Highly Vaccinated Countries,' Forbes, June 17, 2021. TOPLINE Concerns over the effectiveness of China’s Sinovac vaccine continue to grow—Indonesia reported hundreds of outbreaks among medical professionals who took the vaccine and hard-hit Costa Rica declined to use it for fear it won’t work—the latest stumbling block for China’s global vaccination drive as heavily vaccinated countries deploying its two flagship vaccines face some of the world’s worst outbreaks.
- Key Facts: More than 350 doctors and medical professionals have contracted Covid-19 in Indonesia despite the majority of healthcare workers having been immunized with Sinovac, officials said Thursday, just over a month after officials praised the shot for wiping out the disease among health workers.
Dozens of these were hospitalized, officials added, leading experts to question the effectiveness of the Chinese shot, particularly against the infectious Delta variant fueling the country’s outbreak. On Wednesday, Costa Rica, in the midst of a severe Covid-19 outbreak, rejected a delivery of the Sinovac vaccine after health officials, examining clinical data, decided it was not effective enough.
These incidents add to growing concerns surrounding the efficacy of Chinese-made vaccines as fierce outbreaks tear through some of the most vaccinated nations, many of which relied heavily on China’s flagship Sinopharm and Sinovac vaccines for inoculation campaigns. These incidents add to growing concerns surrounding the efficacy of Chinese-made vaccines as fierce outbreaks tear through some of the most vaccinated nations, many of which relied heavily on China’s flagship Sinopharm and Sinovac vaccines for inoculation campaigns. - More. https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2021/06/17/chinas-sinovac-vaccine-under-scrutiny-as-covid-soars-in-highly-vaccinated-countries/
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- Also: 'Some Countries With Highest Vaccination Rates Are Facing A Surge In Covid Deaths & Infections–Experts Say Complacency Is Partly To Blame,' Forbes, May 29, 2021. TOPLINE Some countries with the world’s highest vaccination rates are also battling devastating surges of Covid-19 and the highest death tolls, a worrying trend that has left experts and officials wondering whether successful inoculation drives have lulled governments into easing restrictions too soon and the public into a false sense of security. Uruguay has endured the highest Covid-19 death rate in the world per capita for several weeks, despite having one of the world’s most successful inoculation drives, a common situation in a number of other highly vaccinated countries like Bahrain and the Maldives..
.. KEY BACKGROUND: In the U.S., as in many wealthy countries, vaccines are seen as an exit strategy from the economic and social restrictions of the pandemic. As vaccination rates rise in the U.S., experts and officials have urged people not to become complacent and for officials not to remove restrictions too soon for fear of a resurgent wave of the disease. Changes to CDC guidance allowing vaccinated people to forgo facemasks swiftly led a slate of states to rescind mask mandates—some have even banned local officials from putting their own in place—leading many to question whether a weakening of the policies is wise considering a slowing vaccination rate and persistent levels of hesitancy that could prevent the coverage needed to stop transmission.
.. WHAT WE DON’T KNOW: The relaxation of restrictions is just one variable contributing towards an outbreak. New variants could drive infections—Uruguay’s outbreak is partly fueled by the P.1 variant first identified in Brazil. The efficacy of the vaccines used is also a pertinent worry, with a number of highly vaccinated countries having made heavy use of Chinese vaccines.. WHAT TO WATCH FOR: Bahrain, alongside the nearby UAE, is already offering booster shots for the heavily used Sinopharm vaccine (which already requires two doses), amplifying worries it may not be as effective as others on the market at preventing the disease. A third of Seychellois cases are among vaccinated individuals, the country’s health ministry revealed in mid May and the majority of vaccines given were also the Sinopharm vaccine. The WHO said it would review cases from the archipelago in light of this...
- More, https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2021/05/29/some-countries-with-the-highest-vaccination-rates-are-facing-a-surge-in-covid-deaths-and-infectionsexperts-say-complacency-is-partly-to-blame/?sh=1ee053304457
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