Sultan M Hali
FAR too long, China’s detractors and competitors have denigrated Chinese products, accusing the oriental country of not maintaining the protocols of quality control. This was most unfair because China has been competing with world standard manufacturers, slowly and gradually, Chinese companies managed to win the confidence of the world market by producing not only higher quality products but at cheaper cost.
A stage came, when more established economies, after reaping the benefits of Chinese higher production value and lower expenses, started an onslaught of trade wars and imposed sanctions to block China.
They failed to appreciate the essence of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s win-win policies. When the global pandemic COVID-19 struck, China was not only transparent in informing the world but also went to the extent of sending its medical team of experts, essential Coronavirus prevention equipment and medicines to the regions and countries struck by the deadly epidemic. With its bold strategy, China managed to contain a massive outbreak and check the number of casualties.
Unfortunately, the US and some European countries cast aspersions that the deadly epidemic originated from Wuhan China. Acting responsibly, Chinese government permitted WHO officials to visit Wuhan albeit maintaining COVID-19 protocols to conduct their investigation unimpeded. WHO officials failed to find evidence of the pandemic emanating from Wuhan. In the realm of COVID-19 vaccines, numerous drug manufacturers, researchers and scientists endeavoured to come up with a viable and effective vaccine to counter the deadly disease.
The Occident’s Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna as well as Chinese Sinopharm among others along with Russia’s Sputnik V developed effective anti-COVID-19 vaccine. Unlike the western vaccine, the Chinese injections can be transported in normal temperatures and do not have to be kept at -80°C.
Britain, USA and most of Europe opted for Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines. Meanwhile, South Africa and six other countries purchased AstraZeneca-Oxford Covid-19 vaccines from India, which has a large drug production industry. Unfortunately, soon trouble struck when Serum Institute of India (SII) was asked to take back the one million doses of the AstraZeneca-Oxford Covid-19 vaccines.
Economic Times on February 16 reported that, a week after South Africa suspended the use of the shot after preliminary studies suggested limited effectiveness against the more contagious local variant of the virus. Six of the seven countries that had imported the Indian vaccines, also rejected them.
Meanwhile, the Chinese vaccines are doing well, despite the Occident trying to find faults with the details of the testing carried out.
China’s Sinopharm and Sinovac Biotech have signed deals with more than a dozen countries including Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Philippines, Indonesia and Hungary. China donated 500,000 doses of Covid-19 vaccine to Pakistan, while the People’s Liberation Army took another unprecedented step by delivering a batch of COVID-19 vaccines to the Pakistan Army.
Judging from responses around the globe, the Chinese anti-COVID vaccines are receiving extremely encouraging reviews. From front-line workers to heads of state, more people around the world are praising and welcoming Chinese-made COVID-19 vaccines.
The Laotian Minister of Health Bounkong Syhavong upon receiving Chinese-donated Sinopharm vaccines declared them to have been proved to be safe and reliable. Simultaneously, on the other side of the globe, Peruvian President Francisco Sagasti expressed his appreciation to China as he welcomed the arrival of the first 300,000 doses of Sinopharm vaccine from China. Likewise, Chilean President Sebastian Pinera thanked China while the Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen also expressed his gratitude for the donated vaccine.
According to reports gleaned from international media, Sinopharm’s vaccine and that of Chinese company Sinovac are at a “very advanced stage” of the WHO’s Emergency Use Listing Procedure assessment. China is honoring its commitment to making vaccines a global public good, as emphasized by President Xi Jinping, and has joined the WHO’s global COVAX program to provide 10 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines.
Chinese vaccines have been used to vaccinate millions of people in China as well as in dozens of countries in Asia, Africa, Latin America and Europe.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said on 15 February that China is providing vaccine aid to 53 developing countries, including Pakistan. China also has exported vaccines or is in the process of exporting vaccines to 22 countries. Nawal Al-Kaabi, principal investigator of the phase three clinical trial for a COVID-19 vaccine in the United Arab Emirates, has declared that the UAE together with Bahrain, Egypt and Jordan, where Chinese-made vaccines are also being rolled out is studying the long-term effects of the vaccine in line with standard safety protocols.
Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz has said that Austria is ready to produce Russian and Chinese COVID-19 vaccines if they are registered by the European Medicines Agency. Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis, in talks with Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban in Budapest last week, also emphasized that “the coronavirus vaccine is not a political issue but a safety issue, so the origin of the vaccine cannot be made a political issue either.”
Hungry has granted approval to Chinese and Russian vaccines. Earlier, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron expressed openness to EU approval of Chinese and Russian vaccines following due procedure with “all the data”. A commentary published on the website of “The New York Times” on Feb 5 called for a change in attitude toward Chinese vaccines. With such glowing testimonials, who can doubt the efficacy of the Chinese COVID vaccines?
—The writer is retired PAF Group Captain and a TV talk show host.
