At a Shenzhen hospital, Wang Shuyue, a 21-year-old airport employee, is lining up for his second injection.
“I feel it is safe because many people across the country have had the vaccine, so there should be no major problems,” she told the Guardian. “I think it must be effective, otherwise there wouldn’t be so many people taking it.”
Wang is one of the 50 million people that China plans to vaccinate against Covid-19 in just a few weeks, in one of the most ambitious vaccination campaigns on the planet.
Battling its worst outbreak in 10 months, the nation is moving forward with its goal of vaccinating about 3.5% of the population before the start of the lunar new year holiday on February 11, when hundreds of millions of people cross the country to visit the family and celebrate.
China has pledged to use its own vaccines to inoculate its people and share them with the rest of the world, especially with developing nations. The initiative aims to strengthen – or repair – China’s reputation on the global stage after allegations of cover-up and initial errors in the supply of protective equipment. There are logistical advantages to China’s offerings, but with the main concerns about transparency regarding advanced clinical data and some contradictory reports, health experts urge caution.
First announced in December, the vaccination campaign involves more than 25,300 locations in 75 cities and rural villages, providing vaccines in two doses about 21 days apart, free of charge. Local Chinese media reports suggest that clinics have received emergency approved Sinovac vaccine (for key staff) or conditionally approved Sinopharm vaccine (for the general population). The reported scope and speed of the program surpassed others, including Operation Warp Speed in the United States and launch in Britain.
According to a clinic the Guardian visited, a vaccination record will be integrated into local health code applications and will allow recipients to avoid quarantine when traveling between cities and regions.
The launch started with young people aged 18 to 59 in groups of important workers under emergency approvals and then targeted at vulnerable people before extending to all people over 60. Authorities intend to have all first doses administered by the end of this week, and second doses before the festivities begin. A health commission official, Wang Bin, said on Wednesday that 10 million doses had been administered so far, including about 1.6 million people in an emergency regime before full approvals were issued. Health experts told state media last week that the current rate is likely to reach just 20 million people in time, but producers are accelerating production.
The pressure comes at a time when China has consecutive days with more than 100 new cases, the highest daily total since March. Most cases were reported among the rural population of Hebei, the province around Beijing. On Thursday, it was reported that the first person died from Covid in China in eight months. Three cities near Beijing are closed.
Logistical advantages – and setbacks
Calvin Ho, an associate professor of law at the University of Hong Kong with a focus on bioethics, said the 3.5% increase was not expected to produce collective immunity – health officials said his ultimate goal is about 60-70% vaccination coverage – but it will provide some protection as people get together for the new year.
There were logistical advantages in launching China compared to other nations, Ho said. Vaccines made locally do not require freezing, making transport and storage much simpler than the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines used in countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom. China also has the ability to increase production at any time.
The vaccination campaign started well before the current Hebei outbreak. Some experts question the need to speed up vaccinations, due to major concerns about the vaccine’s transparency and effectiveness.
The two main Chinese vaccines were produced using a historically successful and less risky method of using an inactive virus to elicit an immune response, but producers and authorities have been accused of lacking transparency, not disclosing data from the phase trial. 3 from international clinical trials.
On Tuesday, Brazilian researchers revealed that the Sinovac vaccine was much less effective than previously stated. The overall effectiveness of 50.38% pushes the vaccine just above the World Health Organization’s 50% benchmark for approval, but is below the 78% announced last week and well below the efficacy rates of Moderna and Pfizer vaccines. The findings are likely to raise concerns in about 10 countries that have ordered or received hundreds of millions of doses.
Associate professor James Trauer, head of epidemiological modeling at the school of public health at Monash University, said that in countries like China, which have had a relatively small epidemic (since Wuhan’s was contained), obtaining collective immunity through vaccination is “critical”. However, these situational factors also meant that it was not urgent.
“When you are having a major vaccination program, there is a concern, from a safety point of view, that some reactions may be being lost. And it will be very difficult to assess from an effectiveness perspective, because there is very little transmission of coronaviruses in China, ”said Trauer.
“They have an opportunity to seek high quality data [first], and they decided not to do that. It is a little worrying. “
HKU’s Ho said the risk of early launch seemed low. “Given that we are not sure what the real epidemiological situation in China is … it makes sense to have the precautionary measures in place, if the means permit,” he said.
On Tuesday, about a dozen people lined up to check in for the vaccine at the office of the traditional Chinese medicine group in Shenzhen Bao’an, one of five official vaccination sites in the southern China megacity.
Ms. Sun, who teaches Chinese to foreigners, is among officials who hope to have vaccinated before the lunar new year holiday.
She said she was a little concerned about safety when she gave her first injection, but she had no adverse reactions, so she went back for the second. “I decided to get the vaccine on my own, it’s totally free,” she said.
In line with Sun, a man who refused to give his name said he traveled frequently within China on business and was therefore taking this as a preventive measure.
“I would encourage people who travel a lot, regardless of whether they are inside or outside the country, to get the vaccine. But if you’re someone who stays in the office every day, you can decide if it’s necessary. “