Are doubts about Chinese vaccines another form of China-bashing or racism, or commercial competition? Or is there some truth to those doubts? Here are some of my "research".
Video: After Chinese Vaccination: https://youtu.be/hdTYw82kpDk
At about 1:13, the video shows the number of new cases in each country as they rolled out the Moderna/ Pfizer/AstraZeneca vaccines in their respective countries. The number of infection falls as more of the population is vaccinated.
Then, at about 1:37, the video presents the new cases in countries using the SinoPharm vaccine. The pattern (below) is vastly different.
Another earlier video also raise a similar question: Chinese vaccines faces global scrutiny https://youtu.be/GzcyVVElz5o
China's state-sanctioned media has of course been touting the success and effectiveness of the Chinese vaccine. However, at 3:32, the video above noted that Guangdong has had a fresh outbreak (in June 2021).
This video of 18 June starts with the plight of the residents of Guangzhou (Guangdong province) who have been confined to their residence and unable to get food: https://youtu.be/99DXJuYxy0s.
At 2:49, the narrative informs us that the City of Guangzhou had identified 144 areas as "high-risk" areas.
At 3:20, the video seems to be showing the authorities throwing away donated food meant for the residents confined in their homes.
At 4:39, the video presents some figures: more than 300 diagnosed (with Covid19) as early as May 30, 5600 medical personnel deployed to Guangzhou - suggesting that the actual new cases is vastly more than 300, and ongoing.
At 5:12 onwards, we have video footage of either a mobile cabin hospital, or an isolation camp. But the conditions are disturbing.
At 6:00, a doctor reports that about 80% of the patients have high fever (are they vaccinated? China has NOT provided data.)
So, how far along has China vaccinated her population? I was unable to find any information here.
From second and third parties, China has claimed that most of its population has been vaccinated. But there are no clear information. This is what I found from for Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia at this website.
When I select "China", there is no information. The above chart are percentage of population with at least one does of the vaccine.
Well, if China has not provided any vaccine information, at least the people are eager to be vaccinated right?
This video "China Vaccine: How the trust is destroyed" tells the story https://youtu.be/bdPeOwH9i-E :
At 0:40, there is a text on the video stating that China's goal is to have 40% (560 million people) vaccinated by end of June 2021, 64% (890 million) by end of 2021.
At 1:03, the video reported that the 1.3 billion doses were administered. But no details as to whether it was one dose or two. Only a vague "many received 2 doses".
At 1:25, a vaccination centre in Shanghai has prizes to entice people to get vaccinated.
At 4:19, a report on vaccine fears. So even Chinese vaccines have the same issues.
At 4:38, the video reports on the Guangdong outbreak in May 2021. 40 million people have been vaccinated, but cases were increasing. On 31 May, the vaccination was suspended in Guangzhou. [Why?]
At 5:03, the outbreak has spread to Ruili in Yunnan. The local govt had claimed that Ruili had almost 100% vaccination rate. [But still there was a spread of infection/cases.]
At 5:33, two Chinese experts talk about the protection offered by Chinese vaccines. The second expert, a researcher (at 5:49) was reported to have said that China's vaccines "were positioned for secondary prevention" - to protect against the onset of the disease, not the infection.
The video suggests that this ("three level of protection") is just "a made-up theory" [i.e. hogwash!]
[At 9:20, another conspiracy theory, to scare people into thinking that Chinese vaccines have nanobots.]
Meanwhile, the University of Hong Kong research found that BioNTech's vaccine resulted in 10 times more antibodies than the Chinese vaccine. Which is not to say the SinoVac was totally ineffective. It still confers some protection. And if you can only get SinoVac, it is better to get vaccination anyway and get some protection, than to wait for another vaccine.
So there are some prima facie "evidence" that the Chinese vaccines may not be as protective as the other 3 major Western vaccines. However, there are several possible confounding factors.
Firstly, some variants of the Corona virus is particularly infectious (transmissible) and some vaccines are less effective/protective for some variants. So the increase cases may simply be due to bad luck in terms of the combination of variants which may evade the protection of the vaccine.
Secondly, the healthcare standard across countries may vary. Perhaps the vaccination was not properly administered. However, when the effect across many countries are similar, then the question of variation in vaccine administration is less likely to be an issue. Also the vaccination is quite straightforward, unlike TB vaccines which have a special way of inoculation.
Thirdly, the testing and detection may have improved, so later testing is more efficient and effective, and the rise in cases may be an effect of better testing, or more extensive/comprehensive testing.
Fourthly, "infected" is a very broad definition. If the virus is detected in a person, does that mean he is infected? If he has been vaccinated, does that mean he cannot be infected? Or that he can still be infected, but that now he has the antibodies to fight off the infection? In that case, shouldn't the more important question be, whether he has symptoms and is infectious? In other words, perhaps there is some truth that the vaccines does not prevent "infection" but the onset of the disease?
Finally, note that these videos have an anti-China bias. But the state-sanction media (like CGTN) would be pro-China and have their own agenda. I would not believe the state-sanctioned media unreservedly, but neither would I believe the anti-China media completely either.
The Truth is probably somewhere in the middle. I just want to keep my scepticism open.
[6 Aug Amendment: There's this video:
The general conclusion is that Sinovac does have protective effects. But like any vaccine, it will not be 100% effective. With the Delta variant, there will be breakthrough infections.]
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