Front, from left: Guinean Health Minister Colonel Remy Lamah, Foreign Minister Ibrahima Khalil Kaba and Chinese Ambassador Huang Wei at the airport in Conakry on March 3. (PHOTO / XINHUA)
The quickening pace of arrivals of Chinese-developed COVID-19 vaccines in more countries underscores China’s commitment to creating a safer global community by getting affordable vaccines to developing and less well-off nations.
China had provided vaccine assistance to 69 countries and two international organizations, as well as exported vaccines to 28 countries as of the end of February, Guo Weimin, spokesperson for the fourth session of the 13th National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, told a press conference on March 3. “These numbers are also growing,” Guo said.
“Vaccine is a crucial tool in our effort to prevent, control and ultimately overcome the pandemic, as well as an important subject for international anti-pandemic cooperation. China has sworn to provide vaccines as a global public good, and encourages Chinese companies to collaborate with other countries when developing and producing vaccines.”
In March, vaccines were delivered to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sierra Leone, Guyana, Iraq and Guinea.
China has also joined COVAX, a global initiative aimed at promoting equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines, with Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana and India among the first beneficiaries.
On March 1, Chinese Ambassador to Sierra Leone Hu Zhangliang officially presented a batch of Chinese COVID-19 vaccines to Sierra Leonean President Julius Maada Bio. The vaccines arrived in Sierra Leone on Feb 25. “A friend in need is a friend indeed,” said the president.
Expressing appreciation to the Chinese government, Bio said China has always helped Sierra Leone whenever the nation needed help.
Senegalese Minister of Health and Social Action Abdoulaye Diouf Sarr, the first person inoculated with China’s Sinopharm vaccine in Senegal, said on March 2 that he is doing well after taking the jab on Feb 23.
“I am doing well and I hope that immunity is setting in. In a couple of weeks, we will take the second dose,” he said, assuring that the second dose will be guaranteed to all those that have been inoculated with the first.
Speaking in a program aired by Senegalese public television RTS, the minister said that Senegal is the fourth African country in terms of inoculation numbers during the COVID-19 vaccination campaign, thanks to the first batch of Sinopharm vaccines.
“We have vaccinated more than 35,000 Senegalese,” said the minister.
China has put the inactivated COVID-19 vaccines developed by state-owned pharmaceutical firm Sinopharm into mass production and this year’s output is expected to surpass 1 billion doses, Yu Qingming, chairman of Sinopharm Group, said on March 3.
China always puts the safety and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines first, said Guo. So far, China has approved four vaccines for emergency use. An adenovirus vector vaccine against COVID-19 by CanSino Biologics is projected to provide protection for two years if a booster shot is administered. The vaccine called Ad5-nCoV was granted conditional market approval on Feb 25.
Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa lauded China on March 1
for donating vaccines as Zimbabwe embarks on its inoculation program. China pledged an additional 200,000 Sinopharm doses to the 200,000 received in the country last month.
Another 600,000 doses bought from Sinopharm are expected in Zimbabwe this month. The one million doses in total will be enough to vaccinate at least 500,000 people including frontline workers at risk of infection as well as a significant portion of the elderly and those with chronic conditions.
Mnangagwa said the generous gift by China will greatly contribute to Zimbabwe’s quest to achieve herd immunity. “Over and above, the combined total of 400,000 donated doses, another 600,000 doses of Chinese vaccines will be arriving in the coming weeks, a further 1.2 million doses have also been availed by Chinese companies for Zimbabweans,” he said.
South American nation Bolivia launched a mass immunization campaign against COVID-19 in the western department of La Paz on March 1 with vaccines developed by Sinopharm.
“We want to save the lives of people who are at risk. With this vaccine, we give greater security not only to them, but also to their families who are wary of what may happen, who are the ones who suffer,” Bolivian President Luis Arce said during a public ceremony at the Chuquiago Marka fairgrounds in La Paz, where kidney and cancer patients were immunized.
Argentina, Bolivia, Uruguay and Mexico in Latin America received Chinese vaccines last month to combat COVID-19. Bolivia launched the largest immunization campaign in its history in the eastern city of Santa Cruz on Feb 25, inoculating high-risk groups with Sinopharm vaccines.
“With this vaccine we feel safe,” said Monica Alejandra Cruz, the first beneficiary at the National Center for Tropical Diseases in Santa Cruz. The “doses of hope” have generated high expectations that the campaign will be able to bring the pandemic under control.
Guyana received a shipment of COVID-19 vaccines donated by the Chinese government on March 2 to help the country combat the pandemic. Guyana’s Minister of Health Frank Anthony and Charge d’Affaires of the Chinese Embassy to Guyana Chen Xilai welcomed the shipment at an airport in Guyana’s capital Georgetown and signed official documents on the handover of the vaccines.
Anthony conveyed gratitude to the Chinese people and the government on behalf of Guyanese President Irfaan Ali, the Guyanese government and people. He said it is the first time that Guyana has received COVID-19 vaccines directly donated by a foreign government, which arrived on time and will be immediately used to inoculate frontline health workers.
Guyana has granted emergency use approval of China’s Sinopharm and Russia’s Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccines. Guyana has started the first phase of its national vaccination campaign targeting frontline medics.
On March 1, Chile’s Health Minister Enrique Paris expressed that the country is grateful and content with the use of the Chinese vaccines at an exclusive press conference for foreign correspondents.
Chile received the fourth batch of the COVID-19 vaccine made by Chinese biopharmaceutical company Sinovac Biotech on Feb 26. The vaccine was approved for emergency use on Jan 20 by Chile’s Institute of Public Health. Chile’s mass vaccination drive began on Feb 3.
Uruguay’s government began its immunization campaign against COVID-19 on March 1 with vaccines developed by Sinovac, prioritizing teachers, the military and the police. Uruguayan President Luis Lacalle Pou expressed his gratitude to China on Feb 26 for its support in supplying the vaccines.
Vaccines donated by the Chinese government also arrived in Baghdad, Iraq on March 2. The Chinese Sinopharm vaccine was the first vaccine to reach Iraq at a critical time, as the country is facing a surge in coronavirus infections.
Iraqi health officials hailed the friendly Chinese initiative, stressing that it will have a vital role in supporting the efforts of the Iraqi health authorities to combat the pandemic. China’s Ambassador in Baghdad said that China is the first country to donate COVID-19 vaccines to Iraq.
He said that in the coming stage, China will continue exerting efforts with Iraq to strengthen the strategic partnership between the two countries. He also said that China is ready to continue providing support to Iraq to combat the pandemic and to facilitate purchasing Chinese vaccines.
Some 150,000 medical workers in Laos will get vaccinated against COVID-19 in March and April using the China-donated Sinopharm vaccines, local media reported on March 3.
On March 2, Phonepaseuth Ounaphom, director-general of the Department of Hygiene and Health Promotion under the Lao Ministry of Health, said Chinese vaccines are considered to be safe and reliable and the Lao people are eagerly looking forward to taking shots.
On March 1, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte thanked China again for donating a batch of the Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine CoronaVac to the Philippines. “From the bottom of my heart and with immense gratitude, I thank you, the Chinese people and government, for being so generous,” Duterte said during a televised public address. The Philippines launched its coronavirus vaccination drive on the morning of March 1, less than a day after a batch of the Sinovac vaccines donated by China arrived in the Philippines on Feb 28, the first COVID-19 vaccine to reach the Southeast Asian country.
Duterte said receiving the vaccines from China made another step forward in the Philippines’ ongoing fight against COVID-19. “I convey my sincere gratitude to the Chinese people and the government of China for this gesture of friendship and solidarity — the hallmark of the Philippines-China partnership,” Duterte said.
Also on March 1, Uzbekistan has certified a COVID-19 vaccine produced by a Chinese company, the Ministry of Innovative Development said. The vaccine produced by China’s Anhui Zhifei Longcom Biopharmaceutical will be marketed in the Central Asian nation under the name of ZF-UZ-VAC2001, the ministry said.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban received an injection of China’s Sinopharm vaccine on Feb 28.
“Vaccinated!” Orban wrote on Facebook.
Hungary started to administer the vaccine on Feb 24. Orban received the shot two days after Hungarian President Janos Ader, who also opted for the Chinese vaccine.
Zhang Zhihao and Prime Sarmiento in Hong Kong contributed to this story.
