VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

China is stealing a march on Western drugmakers in the COVID-19 vaccine race in developing nations, with Indonesia and Turkey rolling out huge campaigns with a Chinese shot this week, Brazil due to follow soon, and even EU member Hungary signing up.

Scientists in some Western countries say China has been too slow to publish trial data. Public reports so far about how well its vaccines work have been inconsistent, which the Chinese firms attribute to variations in methodology.

Still, countries with hundreds of millions of people desperate for a vaccine think China’s shots are good enough.

As Western drugmakers struggle to meet demand at home, Beijing has sent millions of doses round the world of CoronaVac, made by Sinovac Biotech, and is also marketing a separate vaccine made by another company, Sinopharm.

The exports come even as China battles its own flare-up in infections, which has put more than 28 million people in lockdown. China has administered 10 million vaccine doses at home.

Though some studies on the Sinovac shot have reported lower effectiveness rates than some Western products, the countries buying them say they appear effective at preventing the most serious, deadly form of COVID-19.

Perhaps most importantly, they are also easy to administer, allowing the quick launch of large-scale programs to save lives and prevent health systems from being overwhelmed.

Turkey launched its program on Thursday with the Sinovac shot, and by late afternoon said it had already vaccinated more than 200,000 people - more in a few hours than France has managed in three weeks. Health workers went first.

“We spent around 10 months in white overalls, supporting people as they struggle for life. Health workers know very well that this situation cannot be taken lightly and that the vaccine is needed,” Surgeon General Nurettin Yiyit said.

Hungary, which has complained about the “scandalously” slow rollout of vaccines bought by the European Union on behalf of its 27 member states, reached a deal on Thursday to buy the Sinopharm vaccine. If approved, it would become the first EU country to authorize a Chinese vaccine. (reuters)