China's vaccines were supposed to be a win for Beijing. Instead, countries are complaining about a delay in shipments and other citizens are asking why their govts have chosen to go with inoculations that have weaker efficacy rates and little data. nytimes.com/2021/01/25/bus…
1. This matters because at least 24 countries, most of them from the developing world, have signed deals with the Chinese because they offered access at a time when richer nations had claimed most of the doses made by Pfizer and Moderna.
2. Brazil and Turkey have complained that they are not getting the doses they have asked for. The delays could leave them stranded because both ctries chose to rely 1st on a Chinese vaccine. Brazil is already seeking alternatives, and has received an AstraZeneca shipment fr India
3. There is a lot of talk in Brazil that the delays are happening because China wants to punish Bolsonaro for his anti-China attitude. I haven't found any evidence of this. But what the Chinese govt has told me is more interesting.
4. Remember a couple of mths back, Chinese officials had indicated that China doesn't need to vaccinate all 1.4 bin people because the ctry had the virus under control. It is now grappling with the worst outbreak in 10 months ...
5. And when I asked Mofa about the delays, they said they are grappling with the "huge" domestic demand but also trying to meet its international commitments. This indicates to me they plan to expand their current vaccination campaign of 50 mln ppl, mostly essential workers.
6. Rodrigo Maia, Brazil’s speaker of the house, said he had met the Chinese ambo to Brazil, who “made it clear tt there is no political obstacle, tt it was a technical process that was delayed a little.” Much of it is unclear but last wk, Sinovac issued an interesting statement.
7. Sinovac put out an urgent job ad on Friday online, saying it was looking for workers to help produce and package vaccines. They are struggling to hire because the district in which their Beijing factory is located is the site of an outbreak and subject to Covid restrictions.
8. Before the delays, people in other ctries already had questions about why their governments chose Chinese vaccines that have weaker efficacy rates. Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines have had to reassure their citizens that they would approve a vaccine that is effective.
9. Until today, we haven't seen the data on whether the Sinopharm and Sinovac vaccines are effective. I had thought they were sharing it privately with the govts who have bought the vaccine. But the HK head of the vaccine task force says no.
10. “Whether it is because they are not making enough or if they have no plans to send the vaccines to Hong Kong yet, I don’t know," Dr. Lau Chak Sing, who heads a Hong Kong government advisory panel on Covid-19 vaccines, told @nytmay
11. There's a lot that is opaque about these deals but one misconception is that the Chinese vaccines are cheaper. (They are also doled out as aid in other instances.) But Turkey is paying as much for a Sinovac vaccine as a Pfizer shot, about $11 per dose.
12. Because some of these countries are paying more, there is anger from the opposition like in the Philippines. An opposition leader in the PH expressed anger that the govt is paying $61 a dose, more than double what Sinovac’s partner in Indonesia is paying. PH has denied this.
13. This article was only possible because of my stellar NYT colleagues in bureaux everywhere. Thanks so much for your help! @leticiadlcasado @newshound16 @nytmay
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