Chinese vaccines arrive in Turkey and Brazil one after another… Resolving distrust is key

The competition for supremacy in the international community over vaccines, the’game changer’ of the Corona 19 crisis, is heating up. Vaccines from China and Russia are challenged by US and UK pharmaceutical companies such as Pfizer, Bioentech, Modena, and AstraZeneca. In particular, Chinese and Russian-made vaccines are attracting the attention of developing countries in an urgent need. Safety is suspected due to the opacity of clinical trial results, but is actively targeting the market with convenience of distribution such as refrigerated storage. In addition, the Chinese-Russian governments are also pursuing strategies to expand their global influence through’vaccine diplomacy’, and the vaccine war is expected to intensify.

On the 30th of last month, the first supply of’Coronabag’ vaccine developed by Chinese pharmaceutical company Sinobac arrived in Turkey. It is the amount that can be given 3 million doses, which is part of the 50 million doses that the Turkish government has decided to introduce. Turkey is also expected to bring in 30 million doses of Pfizer vaccine, so the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of the two vaccines will be evaluated in the future.

The Brazilian state of Sao Paulo also announced that it had secured 10.6 million doses of the Sinovac vaccine on that day. The provincial government also conducted a phase 3 clinical trial involving residents in collaboration with Sinobaek. Indonesia has already introduced the Synovac vaccine on the 9th of last month. So far, more than 15 countries have signed a contract to purchase vaccines made in China.

The reason that the synovac vaccine is being supplied to countries around the world is because the Chinese government is engaged in a very aggressive vaccine diplomacy at the national level. President Xi Jinping has also declared several times, “We will support Chinese vaccines to developing countries in terms of global public goods.” To this end, China plans to provide $3 billion to African and Latin American countries. Prime Minister Li Keqiang also promised, “We will give Southeast Asian countries such as Cambodia and Myanmar priority access to Chinese vaccines.” The intention is to build a’one-to-one vaccine-one-to-one route’ by actively using the corona vaccine as a means of diplomacy.

Chinese pharmaceutical companies are also significantly increasing their production facilities to ensure a stable supply of vaccines. In the case of Sinobag, the current annual production capacity of 300 million units will be increased to 600 million units. The Chinese government’s plan is to produce 1.6 billion doses per year, up to the output of pharmaceutical companies that are developing other vaccines such as Sinoparm.

The biggest advantage of the Synovac vaccine is its convenient transportation method. It can be distributed and stored at a normal refrigeration temperature of 2 to 8 degrees Celsius, so there is no need to store it at an extremely low temperature of -70 degrees Celsius like Pfizer vaccine. This is why developing countries that lack cryogenic facilities are more interested in Chinese vaccines. Already, more than 100,000 people from more than 10 countries in the Middle East and South America participated in clinical trials of vaccines made in China.

The problem is that it is still not getting out of the safety controversy. This is because the Chinese government has not properly disclosed the results of clinical trials. In fact, in Peru, clinical trial participants showed signs of paralysis and the trial was suspended. In Brazil, one of the clinical trials died. Experts pointed out, “If the clinical results are not properly disclosed, it is difficult to gain public trust. This is why Chinese vaccines are treated as second-class.” Regarding this, Yang Xiao-ming, CEO of Sinopharm, refuted, “Our vaccine has a preventive effect of 79.3%, which is far exceeding the World Health Organization (WHO) standard of 50%.”

Meanwhile, Japan’s Mainichi newspaper reported on the 1st that 18 people, including representatives of large corporations and their families, had received the Chinese Sinofam vaccine. Official vaccinations in Japan were scheduled to begin after the end of February, so they were secretly brought in and pre-vaccinated. The newspaper said, “The vaccination spread to an executive at a large company who received a Chinese vaccine last November, as there were no side effects.” In Japan, even a vaccine that has not been approved in Korea can be vaccinated at the discretion of a doctor.

Russia, which approved the use of the corona vaccine for the first time in the world in August last year, is also working hard to spread the spread of the domestic vaccine’Sputnik V’. In addition to Russia, it is now approved for use in Belarus and Argentina. Russian authorities began vaccinating on the 5th of last month.

The problem with Russian vaccines is that they have opaque stability and low production volumes. Above all, it was not secured international trust because it was quickly approved by the Russian authorities before the phase 3 clinical trial. The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), a sovereign wealth fund that supported the development of vaccines, claims that “91.4% of the immunizations of 2,714 people in the phase 3 test resulted in immunity.” have.

Accordingly, Russian authorities are also pushing ahead with a plan to conduct a combined vaccination test with AstraZeneca. The intention is to increase immunity by sequentially administering two types of vaccines. Russian authorities have produced and supplied 2 million batches by the end of last year to resolve the vaccine supply shortage, and plan to increase production further in the new year.

India, with more than 10 million cumulative confirmed cases, is also a hidden power in the vaccine industry. It is analyzed that it is the world’s largest exporter of generic drugs and is highly likely to emerge as a vaccine powerhouse. In fact, India accounts for 60% of the world’s production of various vaccines. Currently, more than 8 companies are participating in the development and production of the Corona 19 vaccine. Barat Biotech has applied for emergency use approval from Indian authorities for its own vaccine and is currently in the process of exporting vaccines to more than 10 countries.

Reporter Choi Ik-jae [email protected]