Terezinha da Conceicao (left) and Dulcinea da Silva Lopes are among the first to receive the COVID-19 vaccine produced by China’s Sinovac Biotech during the start of the vaccination program in front of the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Jan 18. (BRUNA PRADO / AP)
As mass vaccination rolls out in an increasing number of countries around the world, the social gap between advanced economies and poorer nations is a source of anguish to many, including the World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Opening the 148th session of the WHO Executive Board on Jan 18, he warned of the moral consequences of the lack of COVID-19 vaccines for poorer countries, saying the higher-income countries are privileged compared to the developing countries.
“More than 39 million doses of vaccine have now been administered in at least 49 higher-income countries. Just 25 doses have been given in one lowest-income country. Not 25 million, not 25,000, just 25,” he said.
Disparities in immunity “pose a threat to both have and have-not states,” a Bloomberg report said.
While the three wealthy economies of the United States, the United Kingdom and the European Union had given citizens more than half of the shots administered globally, it said, vast numbers of countries have yet to begin their campaigns.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for solidarity with developing countries in the context of COVID-19 and pre-existing inequalities and injustices. Vaccines must be a global public good, available to everyone, everywhere, he said on Jan 19.
The good news is that China has, on various occasions, pledged continuous efforts in global COVID-19 response. “We were the first to pledge to make vaccines a global public good, bearing in mind the greater good of humanity,” Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said recently.
Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told a news conference on Jan 20 that Sinovac Biotech, China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm) and CanSino Biologics have applied to join the COVAX scheme led by the WHO and GAVI vaccine alliance. The global vaccine-sharing scheme is due to start rolling out vaccines to poor and middle-income countries in February.
Across continents, mass-inoculation programs using Chinese vaccines against COVID-19 are rolling out while more countries plan options, reaffirming China’s global public good promise.
In Belgrade, Serbian Health Minister Zlatibor Loncar received Sinopharm’s COVID-19 vaccine on Jan 19, becoming the first person to be vaccinated in the country. One million doses of the vaccine arrived in Serbia and were welcomed at the Belgrade Airport by President Aleksandar Vucic.
After the vaccination, Loncar told the citizens to get vaccinated because that is “the only way” for Serbia to fight the novel coronavirus.
Ukraine is looking to start its vaccination program in the first half of this year with Sinopharm’s vaccine. The Chinese firm has partnered with local manufacturing Lekhim Group on the purchase of 5 million doses of CoronaVac and becoming the exclusive supplier of this medication to Ukraine.
Hungary, which has criticized the European Union’s handling of the slow vaccine rollout, is looking elsewhere to secure Chinese and Russian vaccines. It is reported that an agreement is being discussed with Sinopharm.
In Africa, Egyptian Health Minister Hala Zayed announced that the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Sinopharm has been officially licensed for emergency use. Egypt received the first batch of the vaccines on Dec 10.
The minister said the batch went through four tests conducted by the country’s drug regulator.
Seychelles President Wavel Ramkalawan kicked off the Indian Ocean archipelago’s national vaccine drive by being the first person to receive his Chinese injection on Jan 10.
Ahmed Ogwell, deputy director of the Africa Center for Disease Control and Prevention CDC, told Xinhua that they have been holding discussions with Chinese developers of COVID-19 vaccine.
In Asia, Iraq’s Ministry of Health spokesman Sayf al-Badr said the vaccine developed by Sinopharm “conforms to the (National Board for Selection of Drugs) standards, and therefore the Iraqi state approved it for use inside Iraq”. Iraq on Jan 19 also approved the emergency use of the multinational company AstraZeneca’s vaccine.
The Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan approved Sinopharm’s vaccines for emergency use on Jan 18. The National Institute of Health said some 17,500 people have volunteered to take part in the trials underway at five different sites in Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi.
Pakistan is also negotiating with other vaccine makers, including China’s Cansino Biologics, a health official said. The vaccine, referred to as Ad5-nCoV, was developed by CanSino Biologics and the Beijing Institute of Biotechnology. Shifa International Hospital in Islamabad is collaborating with the NIH on the Pakistani side.
Also on Jan 18, Azerbaijan’s senior health officials took their first dose of vaccines developed by Sinovac, marking the beginning of mass vaccinations prioritizing healthcare workers and those in government. Azerbaijan has secured 4 million doses of the Sinovac vaccine.
Turkey, Indonesia, Jordan, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates have also begun using vaccines of Chinese origin. The Philippines and Malaysia have secured doses from China while Thailand and Cambodia are among those discussing the possibilities of using Chinese vaccines.
The UAE’s National Crisis and Disaster Management Authority tweeted on Jan 19 that more than 2 million people have been inoculated in the Arab nation.
Malaysian pharmaceutical group Pharmaniaga Bhd has struck a deal with China’s Sinovac to purchase 14 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. It is also in talks with Chinese manufacturer CanSino Biologics, as well as developers from other countries.
Thailand, which is seeing cases rebound, plans to buy two million vaccines from Sinovac, with the first batch of 200,000 doses expected to arrive in the country next month.
Iran, meanwhile, is looking at the possibility of the arrival of 2.6 million doses of vaccines from Russia and China before the Iranian year ends on March 20.
Uzbekistan started the phase-3 trial of a COVID-19 vaccine, developed by the Chinese company Zhifei Longcom Biopharmaceutical, for 5,000 volunteers in December.
Eight specialists from the Chinese firm, specialists from the Ministry of Innovative Development and the Research Institute of Virology of the Ministry of Health, have conducted vaccination trainings for Uzbek doctors and nurses.
In Latin America, as injections of Sinovac’s CoronaVac gain momentum in Brazil, other countries are reportedly considering options for the same product.
Talking about many people’s concerns over different rates of efficacy for Chinese, American, British and Russian vaccines, the Philippines’ Department of Science and Technology said that vaccine efficacy is dependent on a lot of factors, such as — but is not limited to — the type of vaccine platform used, the clinical trials’ design, target populations and dosing schedule.
Undersecretary for Research and Development of the Philippines’ Department of Science and Technology Rowena Cristina Guevara said vaccine efficacy refers to the percentage reduction in disease incidence in a vaccinated group compared to an unvaccinated group under optimal conditions such as a randomized clinical trial.
“Efficacy can also be analyzed as to whether the vaccine will protect against mild, moderate or severe COVID-19,” she said.
However, not all adverse effects may be related to the candidate vaccine, Guevara stressed.
On his latest blog on LinkedIn, NSF International Health Sciences Global Vice-President Martin Lush cautioned against the worrying prospect of deaths of Norwegian senior citizens, after the injection of a US-produced vaccine (likely due to natural or other causes), being incorrectly linked to the vaccination.
Moreover, there is a misconception that COVID-19 vaccines are not safe because these were developed so quickly, Guevara said, adding the comparatively short time frame of development was due to the “unprecedented global effort” to collaborate and invest in making vaccines that are needed to control the pandemic.
Jan Yumul and Prime Sarmiento contributed to this report.
