Washington: Many governments that once relied on Chinese vaccines from Sinovac Biotech Ltd. or Sinopharm Group Co Ltd. are now turning to options from the US and Europe as concerns mount about Chinese vaccines’ efficacy against the delta strain and the Western stranglehold on mRNA supplies grows looser. That preference may already be showing up in China’s customs data, where exports of human vaccines dropped 21% in August to $1.96 billion from $2.48 billion in July, after rising steadily since Dec. 2020.
“Basically people took what they could get” when Covid vaccines first became available, said Nicholas Thomas, an associate professor at the City University of Hong Kong who has edited several books on foreign policy and public health.
“But as this has gone on, general populations — rather than just medical practitioners — have become more educated about the differences,” he said. “They have realized that not all vaccines are equal in terms of protection.”
This shift played out during Thailand’s deadly outbreak earlier this year. As cases surged and Southeast Asia emerged as the new epicenter of the pandemic, the nation desperately tried to purchase vaccines. Only one supplier came through in time: China’s Sinovac.
The efficacy of China’s inactivated vaccines ranges from about 50% to 80% in clinical trials. But they are less potent than mRNA vaccines and questions are mounting about their effectiveness against the highly transmissible delta variant. As a result, the Thai government became the first in the world to offer an AstraZeneca Plc shot to people who had already received a jab or even two of Sinovac.
Many Thais expressed a strong preference for Western shots – even protesting to demand them – and the country’s opposition began lambasting the government for its reliance on China.
Thailand halted orders of Sinovac and began buying more Western vaccines.