The Safest COVID Vaccine? Just Take Anyone
Just google ‘Chinese COVID vaccines’ and you’ll be bombarded with information that criticizes the low efficacy rates of these vaccines and how their distribution to lower-income countries is unethical. If you take a step back, you’ll notice that such anti-China information is mainly being propagated from mainstream western outlets, and more context to this attack is added when you realize that there is a global vaccine race happening between the west and the east.
With nearly 3 million deaths and a rise of COVID resurgences in many countries including Qatar, it is now more than ever to be cautious of this western narrative of saving the world as it was the same one that fueled this outbreak, from not wearing masks to the U.S. stepping out of the WHO during the peak of the pandemic.
The main topic of discussion between Western and Chinese vaccines has usually revolved around their efficacy rates. Western Vaccines, such as Pfizer and Moderna have their efficacy rates around 95 percent, whereas the Chinese vaccines, Sinopharm and Sinovac, have their efficacy rates ranging from 50 to 91 percent and 79 to 89 percent respectively, and depending on the trial.
Most people think that a 95 percent efficacy rate means that 5 in 100 vaccinated people will still get COVID-19. However, that is farther from the truth. As Umair Irfran reports on Vox, a 95 percent efficacy means that an individual has a 95 percent chance of not
contracting COVID-19 compared to if they did had not taken the vaccine. Thus, the
percentage applies to an individual, not to an entire group.
This misunderstanding of the efficacy rate leads most people to believe that the
Chinese vaccines with their low and unreliable numbers are unsafe. In addition, efficacy
rates really can’t tell anything about the safety of a vaccine.
“The safety of a vaccine is not related to its efficacy. Even before any candidate
vaccines are tested in humans, they would have to undergo extensive laboratory testing
to ensure that there is little possibility of harm to humans,” said Dr. Patrick Tang, the
Division Chief of Pathology Sciences at Sidra Medicine.
The safety of a vaccine is not related to its efficacy. Even before any candidate vaccines
are tested in humans, they would have to undergo extensive laboratory testing to
ensure that there is little possibility of harm to humans,” said Dr. Patrick Tang, the
Division Chief of Pathology Sciences at Sidra Medicine.
He added that the Sinovac vaccine has already been given to millions of people in many
different countries and is as safe as the other western vaccines. As for choosing what
vaccine is the ‘best’, Dr. Tang mentions that the outbreak will end faster if everyone just
takes whatever vaccine was offered to them.
“If the Sinovac vaccine was the only choice available, I would take it, as should
everyone else,” he added.
Dr. Amjad Qarbazi, a doctor at THQ hospital in Pakistan with a medical experience of
21 years also added on the safety of the other Chinese vaccine, Sinopharm.
“In the past two months of its distribution, we have not seen any adverse reaction in the
population, which is why it is safe for use,” he added.
If Chinese vaccines are similar in safety to Western vaccines, then why don’t lower
income countries, who still worry about the safety of Chinese vaccines just simply
choose Western vaccines? Well, they can’t when 14% of rich Western countries have
bought up more than half of all the western vaccines, as reported by Fatima Bhutto
at The Guardian.
To make the situation worse, around mid-February, the Biden administration ramped up
the total number of weekly vaccines given to each state in the U.S. by 57 percent as
reported on U.S. News & World Report. This has led companies such as Moderna,
which was heavily developed through U.S. taxpayer money, to further prioritize
supplying the U.S. over other countries.
These factors have resulted in a global shortage of vaccines for the Eastern market.
China took this opportunity in distributing its own vaccines to fulfill this demand. This
act in itself is a danger to Western vaccine manufactures, as a market is being taken
away for them. For example, a New York Times article found that the European Union
has currently secured 1.3 billion vaccines, with the addition of 660 million doses still up
for grabs. With a 746 million population of the European Union, it has enough dosages
to vaccine itself 2.5 times over. These leftover western vaccines were supposed to be
given to other countries as a means of creating foreign diplomacy. However, China now
took away their opportunity. If the Western global position is at risk, western media will
do anything to protect it.
For instance, a New York Times article downplays China’s vaccine manufacturing by
claiming that “India, the unmatched vaccine manufacturing power, is giving away
millions of doses to neighbors friendly and estranged. It is trying to counter China, which
has made doling out shots a central plank of its foreign relations.” An alternative angle
to this story could be on how South East Asia can now produce their own vaccines and
have taken in their own hand to defeat the pandemic.
This attack on Chinese vaccines simply comes from the fact that supplying vaccines is a
profitable business. If western vaccine manufactures are occupied with supplying their
own, it means eastern markets are untapped, and the addition of a Chinese vaccine
supplier is a threat to their own business.
This intention to capitalize off a global pandemic shouldn’t be surprising considering
how we have seen face masks, hand sanitizer and in some countries, toilet papers,
have had their prices raised to unrealistic proportions.
Dr. Tang adds that countries that have access to the vaccine will be able to restart their
societies and economies sooner than those that do not.
“The problems of inequality and poverty are not new, but the pandemic has really highlighted the need to address these issues in a meaningful way. This is a much bigger issue that goes beyond health care and public health.”
He further mentioned the role of media in propagating this West vs Chinese vaccine
race, “when every minor issue with each vaccine is played out in real-time in the media,
it can be very confusing for the average person, and it is easy to lose sight of the bigger
picture or what we are trying to achieve.”
Dr. Qarbazi added on this vaccine race by calling it ‘unreasonable.’
“All these [vaccine] companies should try to collaborate and help in combating this
pandemic as quickly as we can.”
There is no denying that the Chinese government has had its own share of spreading
misinformation regarding western vaccines, and not releasing the true data for its initial
clinical trials. However, considering the influence of western media in a global context,
one message propagates further with an ever-increasing amplitude, which is a danger
to global health by creating confusion and distrust among a population.
This pandemic can only be defeated if we actually collaborate and let go of this West vs
East divide. That can only be achieved if we’re cautious in not being trapped in this
western narrative of saving the world. Just take any vaccine that is available to you so
life can finally return to being normal.
