China may also need to accept the mRNA shots to reopen its borders. - source
“Everyone should consider the benefits mRNA vaccines can bring for humanity,” Gao Fu, director-general of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said in a speech in April.
But Gao’s comments have not marked a complete reversal in China’s stance toward mRNA vaccines, notes Yanzhong Huang, a senior fellow for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations.
“We haven’t seen any strong efforts to promote mRNA vaccines in China,” Huang says. “There is a political concern that if China approves the mRNA vaccines, it might send a signal that leads people to question the effectiveness of the existing [Chinese] vaccines.”
In Thailand, authorities announced on Monday that people who got injected with one dose of Sinovac would get AstraZeneca’s jab as their second dose and fully vaccinated health workers would be offered a booster shot of Pfizer or AstraZeneca. The move came after Thailand reported 618 COVID-19 infections and one death among 677,000 medical workers who were fully vaccinated with Sinovac’s two-dose regimen.
Indonesia’s health minister also recently hinted that the country will reduce its reliance on Sinovac shots amid reports that hundreds of health care workers had contracted COVID and 10 had died of the disease after receiving Sinovac jabs.
The United Arab Emirates recommends that people receiving the Sinopharm jabs get a booster shot of Pfizer six months after they complete their Sinopharm regimen.
China may also need to accept the mRNA shots to reopen its borders.
Relying largely on Sinovac and Sinopharm, China has distributed over 1.4 billion vaccine doses to its citizens, enough to fully cover over half its population. But even with China’s blistering vaccination pace, the country may not reopen its borders until mid-2022, in part owing to concerns that the Sinovac and Sinopharm jabs may be effective in preventing deaths, but limited in their ability to prevent transmission of the virus, the Wall Street Journal reports.
“Everyone should consider the benefits mRNA vaccines can bring for humanity,” Gao Fu, director-general of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said in a speech in April.
But Gao’s comments have not marked a complete reversal in China’s stance toward mRNA vaccines, notes Yanzhong Huang, a senior fellow for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations.
“We haven’t seen any strong efforts to promote mRNA vaccines in China,” Huang says. “There is a political concern that if China approves the mRNA vaccines, it might send a signal that leads people to question the effectiveness of the existing [Chinese] vaccines.”
In Thailand, authorities announced on Monday that people who got injected with one dose of Sinovac would get AstraZeneca’s jab as their second dose and fully vaccinated health workers would be offered a booster shot of Pfizer or AstraZeneca. The move came after Thailand reported 618 COVID-19 infections and one death among 677,000 medical workers who were fully vaccinated with Sinovac’s two-dose regimen.
Indonesia’s health minister also recently hinted that the country will reduce its reliance on Sinovac shots amid reports that hundreds of health care workers had contracted COVID and 10 had died of the disease after receiving Sinovac jabs.
The United Arab Emirates recommends that people receiving the Sinopharm jabs get a booster shot of Pfizer six months after they complete their Sinopharm regimen.
China may also need to accept the mRNA shots to reopen its borders.
Relying largely on Sinovac and Sinopharm, China has distributed over 1.4 billion vaccine doses to its citizens, enough to fully cover over half its population. But even with China’s blistering vaccination pace, the country may not reopen its borders until mid-2022, in part owing to concerns that the Sinovac and Sinopharm jabs may be effective in preventing deaths, but limited in their ability to prevent transmission of the virus, the Wall Street Journal reports.
