They Relied on Chinese Vaccines. Now They're Battling Outbreaks.

[TomCADem]

For all of the Republican complaints about regulations, perhaps there is a reason why in countries like the Philippines, people are showing a strong preference for US vaccines than Chinese vaccines. Chinese vaccines companies do not need to disclose data regarding efficacy, side effects, etc.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/22/business/economy/china-vaccines-covid-outbreak.html

In the United States, about 45 percent of the population is fully vaccinated, mostly with doses made by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna. Cases have dropped 94 percent over six months.

Israel provided shots from Pfizer and has the second-highest vaccination rate in the world, after the Seychelles. The number of new daily confirmed Covid-19 cases per million in Israel is now around 4.95.

In the Seychelles, which relied mostly on Sinopharm, that number is more than 716 cases per million.

Disparities such as these could create a world in which three types of countries emerge from the pandemic — the wealthy nations that used their resources to secure Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna shots, the poorer countries that are far away from immunizing a majority of citizens, and then those that are fully inoculated but only partly protected.

China, as well as the more than 90 nations that have received the Chinese shots, may end up in the third group, contending with rolling lockdowns, testing and limits on day-to-day life for months or years to come. Economies could remain held back. And as more citizens question the efficacy of Chinese doses, persuading unvaccinated people to line up for shots may also become more difficult.

[modrepub]

1. Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Is Expensive

Back in the 90s I was at a pharmaceutical manufacturing site. They were trying to ramp up their flu vaccine manufacturing capabilities. The plant was under construction 24-7. It had to be set up to have an extremely controlled environment. The air system was set up for a single pass though, no air recirculation. That was just to ramp up production on an industrial scale. Research is a completely separate expense.

All of this adds up. Take short cuts or skimp on one of the steps and you corrupt the whole production to the point where what you produce becomes at best ineffective or at worst it kills people.

For all its faults, expense and access being among the worst problems, the current market system for big Pharma generally works. I don't think a government run system would be as nimble as a private system. Not to say there aren't needs for some general oversight and mechanisms to maintain fair competition, but the Chinese model, at this point, doesn't seem to produce the same results.

[BlueWavePsych]

2. Hundreds of Thai medical workers infected despite Sinovac vaccinations

Thailand's health ministry said on Sunday more than 600 medical workers who received two doses of China's Sinovac vaccine (SVA.O) have been infected with COVID-19, as authorities weigh giving booster doses to raise immunity.

Of the 677,348 medical personnel who received two doses of Sinovac, 618 became infected, health ministry data from April to July showed. A nurse has died and another medical worker is in critical condition.

An expert panel has recommended a third dose to trigger immunity for medical workers who are at risk, senior health official Sopon Iamsirithawon, told a news briefing on Sunday.

"This will be a different vaccine, either viral vector AstraZeneca or an mRNA vaccine, which Thailand will be receiving in the near term," he said, adding that the recommendation will be considered on Monday.

https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/hundreds-thai-medical-workers-infected-despite-sinovac-vaccinations-2021-07-11/

Headline from Reuters is obviously Clickbait. 0.1% breakthrough rate is not bad ... waay better than no vaccine