Chinese Covid Vaccines

This article from The New York Times really woke me up to the fact that China is not using an mRNA vaccine against Covid-19.

To quote from the article: "Unlike traditional vaccines that use an inactivated virus to trigger a response by the immune system, mRNA vaccines use a genetic molecule that assists cells to make proteins that can set off an immune response in the body. This response creates antibodies that are then used to fight the virus."

It's clear from the article that this is a deliberate policy. The government has had the opportunity to manufacture them but have not done so. Again, to quote, "It wasn’t that long ago that China appeared ready to introduce an mRNA vaccine for Covid-19. Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical, BioNTech’s Chinese partner, told investors last year that regulators would approve its mRNA vaccine for use in China by July 2021. The company, which had conducted clinical trials in late 2020, said that it could make as many as a billion doses a year. That optimism has since faded. Chinese authorities now say they are still reviewing documents in order to “make a final decision on the approval of our vaccine,” a spokeswoman for BioNTech said."

The above graphic and this article from July 30th 2021 is informative as to what other countries are using the Chinese vaccines:

Malaysia and Thailand announced this month that they were phasing out the vaccine. While the former will switch to Pfizer and give out its remaining Chinese shots as second immunizations, the latter is going one step further by offering mix and match vaccines with AstraZeneca to those which are still awaiting their second Sinovac shot. Both Thailand and Indonesia have said they will offer a third booster shot to those who have received the Sinovac vaccine. Both will use a different vaccine than Sinovac for this program. Singapore meanwhile does not count Sinovac recipients – many of them healthcare workers - in vaccination statistics anymore and does not exempt them from being tested, for example when attending events ... Sinovac has been widely used in Asia and countries like Cambodia and the Philippines are sticking to it so far despite some protests. Sinovac and another Chinese vaccine, Sinopharm, are also in use in South America, Mexico and the Middle East. Several countries in Africa have also authorized one or more Chinese shots, according to Our World in Data.