Chile, Bahrain, Mongolia and the Sychelles relied on Chinese vaccines to inoculate their populations; all have registered a spike in COVID-19 cases in last few weeks
Three countries that rolled out Chinese vaccines are battling a surge in the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) infections. In the Seychelles, Chile, Bahrain and Mongolia, 50-68 per cent of the populations have been fully inoculated, according to science publication Our World in Data.
All four countries relied on Chinese vaccines to inoculate their population drives and get back to a version of normalcy in
All four ranked among the top 10 countries with the worst COVID-19 outbreaks as recently as last week, according to data from The New York Times.
Mongolia has now vaccinated 52 per cent of its population, but the cases have quadrupled over a month and all the four countries are mostly using shots made by two Chinese vaccine makers, Sinopharm and Sinovac Biotech.
Several countries have suggested that the Chinese vaccines may not be very effective at preventing the spread of the virus and its variants. China kicked off its vaccine diplomacy campaign in 2020 to prevent severe cases of COVID-19.
The new situation can increase the case of vaccine parity and partial protection to several countries even after they have vaccinated their entire populations.
Despite the spike in cases, officials in both the Seychelles and Mongolia have defended Sinopharm saying it is effective in preventing severe cases of the disease. China’s foreign ministry said it did not see a link between the recent outbreaks and their vaccines.
The Chinese companies have also not released much clinical data to show how the vaccines work against COVID-19.
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