Chinese vaccines less effective against Covid

[url]https://www.axios.com/chinese-covid-vaccines-low-efficacy-rates-official-f548e76b-d26b-4eab-be5c-cc1060d032f5.html[/url] or https://www.axios.com/chinese-covid-vaccines-low-efficacy-rates-official-f548e76b-d26b-4eab-be5c-cc1060d032f5.html ; 

The Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention's director said Saturday authorities are considering mixing COVID-19 vaccines because the country's domestically made doses "don't have very high protection rates," per AP.

Why it matters: The remarks by the Gao Fu at a news conference in the southwestern city of Chengdumark mark the first time a Chinese health official has spoken publicly about the low efficacy of vaccines made in China.

• China has sent millions of doses of its coronavirus vaccine around the world.

Driving the news: Gao said officials were looking at two options designed "to solve the problem that the efficacy of ... existing vaccines is not high," according to the South China Morning Post.

• One is mixing vaccine, known as "sequential immunization," and the other is to "adjust the dosage, the interval between doses or increase the number of doses," the SCMP reports.  

The intrigue: Experts say the mixing of vaccines may "boost effectiveness rates," AP notes.

• Scientists in the United Kingdom are conducting clinical study into the mixing of the Oxford University-AstraZeneca and Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines.

The big picture: China's government has only approved locally made vaccines for use against the virus.

• Sinopharm announced just before its coronavirus vaccine was approved for use late last year that its vaccine was 79.3% effective, though experts said important data was missing.
• China's health regulator approved Sinovac's vaccine last February. Several phase 3 trials in Brazil, Turkey and Indonesia have shown efficacy rates between 50.38% to 91.25%, Axios' Shawna Chen notes.

Of note: Gao said "everyone should consider the benefits" of mRNA vaccines, used by Western drug makers as a tool against the pandemic but not by their counterparts in China, AP reports.

What they're saying: Tao Lina, a Shanghai-based vaccine expert who attended Gao's news conference, told the SCMP the "levels of antibodies generated by our vaccines are lower than mRNA vaccines and the efficacy data are also lower."

DJ-It would be more then welcome if there was more international cooperation during this pandemic. Now India is facing a healthcrisis-so less vaccine exports-other producers have to play a bigger role. 

Maybe AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccines can be used in some countries with a "more realistic view on risks". Chinese vaccines offer less protection then mRNA  ones. 

This pandemic may be a long term problem so vaccine-production capacity is a major issue. 

[url]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_pandemic_in_mainland_China#Vaccination[/url] or https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_pandemic_in_mainland_China#Vaccination ; 

Vaccination

In July 2020, the Chinese government granted an emergency use authorization for COVID-19 vaccines developed by Sinovac Biotech and China National Biotech Group.^[413] The government also approved a vaccine developed by CanSino Biologics for use in the military.^[414] By mid-December, authorities said that over one million vaccine doses had been administered to over 650,000 people (the vaccines require two doses), with "no serious adverse reactions". By December, plans were in place to vaccinate more widely, beginning with high-risk groups.^[413][414] The vaccine rollout has been delayed by limited supplies and vaccine hesitancy.^[415]

The Chinese government has also worked to provide vaccines to developing countries, providing vaccine aid to 53 countries and vaccine exports to 22 countries.^[415][416] Foreign Minister Wang Yi criticized developed countries for hoarding vaccines and urged the international community to "promote fair and equitable distribution of vaccines"

DJ [url]https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/[/url] or https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/  China would be in the total cases list at #92 with 90,410 cases and 4636 deaths. When I look at [url]https://ourworldindata.org/covid-vaccinations[/url] or https://ourworldindata.org/covid-vaccinations there is no number on vaccinations in China. 

Also [url]https://www.cgtn.com/special/Battle-against-novel-coronavirus.html[/url] or https://www.cgtn.com/special/Battle-against-novel-coronavirus.html does not help allthough China Global TV has 101,187 cases and 4831 deaths...

[url]https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/china/[/url] or https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/china/ may give some extra info...

EdwinSm, does China "hide cases/info"? They are trying to show a good image of themselves so they better be as open as they can when exporting vaccines worldwide. [url]https://news.cgtn.com/news/2021-03-03/More-nations-embrace-Chinese-vaccines-to-fight-COVID-19-YkbhEeCNEs/index.html[/url] or https://news.cgtn.com/news/2021-03-03/More-nations-embrace-Chinese-vaccines-to-fight-COVID-19-YkbhEeCNEs/index.html 

I guess China wants to improve the vaccines to get its own population better protection.