Issues with sinovac?

[Mike J]

I can't help but wonder if this all sinovac, a bad batch, or it is not effective against the "delta" strain of covid?  In any case I expect a great many people will now refuse it going forward, especially given the effectiveness was only 51% to begin with.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2021/06/17/chinas-sinovac-vaccine-under-scrutiny-as-covid-soars-in-highly-vaccinated-countries/?sh=1abc41001444

TOPLINE Concerns over the effectiveness of China’s Sinovac vaccine continue to grow—Indonesia reported hundreds of outbreaks among medical professionals who took the vaccine and hard-hit Costa Rica declined to use it for fear it won’t work—the latest stumbling block for China’s global vaccination drive as heavily vaccinated countries deploying its two flagship vaccines face some of the world’s worst outbreaks.

KEY FACTS
More than 350 doctors and medical professionals have contracted Covid-19 in Indonesia despite the majority of healthcare workers having been immunized with Sinovac, officials said Thursday, just over a month after officials praised the shot for wiping out the disease among health workers.

Dozens of these were hospitalized, officials added, leading experts to question the effectiveness of the Chinese shot, particularly against the infectious Delta variant fueling the country’s outbreak.    

On Wednesday, Costa Rica, in the midst of a severe Covid-19 outbreak, rejected a delivery of the Sinovac vaccine after health officials, examining clinical data, decided it was not effective enough.  

These incidents add to growing concerns surrounding the efficacy of Chinese-made vaccines as fierce outbreaks tear through some of the most vaccinated nations, many of which relied heavily on China’s flagship Sinopharm and Sinovac vaccines for inoculation campaigns.

While both vaccines have been granted emergency authorization by the World Health Organization, Sinovac’s 51% efficacy only just exceeds the WHO’s 50% efficacy threshold for Covid-19 vaccines and a lack of public clinical data to back up manufacturers’ often inconsistent claims hampers public acceptance of the vaccine. 

Sinovac did not respond to Forbes’ request for comment.

CONTRA
Uruguay, in the first release of real world data on Sinovac’s efficacy Tuesday, said the vaccine was over 90% effective at preventing ICU admissions and deaths, as well as 61% effective at preventing infections. Despite having vaccinated more people than almost any other country (it has given over 60% of its population at least one shot, higher than the U.S.), Uruguay is dealing with one of the highest Covid-19 death rates in the world. The Chinese pharmaceutical companies rarely address public concerns over efficacy and Chinese officials say questions over its vaccines are an example of anti-China bias and selective reporting. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said a Wall Street Journal article questioning the role of the vaccines in the highly vaccinated Seychelles outbreak “exposes their unhealthy mind-set of denigrating China at every turn.”  

KEY BACKGROUND
China has made its vaccines a key weapon in its foreign policy arsenal during the pandemic, often distributing them to poorer nations unable to access other vaccines and others willing to pay. For some countries, like Hungary, the price appears to place them among the most expensive in the world. China staunchly defends the quality of its vaccines, which it rolled out long before completing late stage clinical trials, though has broadly eschewed the practice of publishing clinical trial data in peer reviewed journals Western manufacturers (Sinopharm eventually did, where it was noted the trial could not “test the efficacy among those with chronic diseases, women, (and) older adults”). 

WHAT WE DON’T KNOW
With no data available, the effectiveness of Sinovac against new Covid-19 variants is unknown. What is known of other vaccines against the Delta variant is a marked drop in protection with only one dose and a more limited drop once fully immunized. Even a small drop in efficacy would take Sinovac’s shot below the WHO threshold. 

CRUCIAL QUOTE
George Gao, the head of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, acknowledged the poor efficacy of China’s vaccines at a conference in April, in what seemed to be an unintentional dissent from the party line. Gao said the country was exploring ways to “solve the problem that the efficacy of the existing vaccines is not high.” China swiftly rejected the way Gao’s comments had been perceived on the domestic and international stage, flushing comments from social media and publicly rebuking the statement. On state media, Gao later described the incident as a “misunderstanding.”  

[Dave Hounddriver]

If the tinfoil hat peeps are correct then China created this virus.  Kinda dumb to think they would give us a vaccine for it, if the tin hats are correct.

[BrettGC]

1 hour ago, Dave Hounddriver said:

If the tinfoil hat peeps are correct then China created this virus.  Kinda dumb to think they would give us a vaccine for it, if the tin hats are correct.

Dave, to take it a step further, they created the virus to create a market for the vaccine....  Just so you know, I don't believe the conspiracy theories either, but just pointing out the logic.  

 

[scott h]

2 hours ago, Mike J said:

More than 350 doctors and medical professionals have contracted Covid-19 in Indonesia despite the majority of healthcare workers having been immunized with Sinovac, officials said

Here is what the "officials" dont say,,,,,,,,out of the 350, how many were hospitalized, how many died and how many just had runny noses?

Unless I am completely wrong,,,,(which happens often, just ask my wife) the primary purpose of the jab is to keep you out of intensive care and alive,,,not to keep you completely virus free.

In addition, i will be willing to bet a case of beer that once those 350 got the jab they started slacking off in there safety protocols.

[Dave Hounddriver]

15 hours ago, BrettGC said:

Dave, to take it a step further, they created the virus to create a market for the vaccine

"a market" usually means someone is buying something.  Did the Chinese sell their Sinovac or did they donate it?

[scott h]

5 hours ago, Dave Hounddriver said:

Did the Chinese sell their Sinovac or did they donate it?

One of my favorite authors, the GREAT Robert Heinlein coined a phrase in his book "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress"  

TANSTAAFL=There aint no such thing as a free lunch

Sinovac might be free now,,,,,but what will be expected  from the donee country down the line? 

[Mike J]

5 hours ago, Dave Hounddriver said:

"a market" usually means someone is buying something.  Did the Chinese sell their Sinovac or did they donate it?

Appears to be both donating and selling.  Article is dated Feb 3rd.  China seem to be donating to countries where they are trying to build influence and selling where that is not on their agenda.  Just my opinion.

https://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/china-send-10-million-coronavirus-vaccine-doses-abroad-75652772

TAIPEI, Taiwan -- China on Wednesday announced a plan to provide 10 million coronavirus vaccine doses to developing nations through the global COVAX initiative as part of its ambitious diplomatic and business efforts to distribute Chinese vaccines around the world.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said China is responding to a request from the World Health Organization as developing countries seek to fill shortages predicted to run through March. He did not offer details on which vaccine China was providing to COVAX, or whether it was a donation.

China has already shipped large numbers of doses of its own vaccines, mainly to developing countries. It has pursued deals or donations with more than 30 nations far exceeding the 10 million doses it is providing to COVAX. In Turkey alone, Chinese company Sinovac Biotech Ltd. has struck a deal to sell 50 million doses.

Its global efforts are seen by many as an attempt to boost China’s reputation as it seeks to repair its image after the first cases of the coronavirus were detected in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019. Earlier on during the pandemic, China donated face masks and protective gear to countries around the world as part of a diplomatic push. It has called the virus a mutual challenge facing humanity and even suggested it may have been brought from outside the country.

It agreed to join COVAX, coordinated by the World Health Organization and GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance, last October, notably when the U.S. under then President Donald President had declined to join.

COVAX seeks to ensure that low- and middle-income countries have enough vaccines as wealthy nations have snapped up a large part of the billions of upcoming doses from mostly Western vaccine makers.

“We hope countries in the international community with the capability will swing into action, support COVAX through practical actions, support the work of the World Health Organization, assist developing countries in obtaining vaccines in a timely manner and contribute to ... conquering the pandemic at an early date," Wang said a daily briefing.

WHO is in the process of approving Chinese vaccines for emergency use, he added.

So far, COVAX has secured only a fraction of the 2 billion doses it hoped to buy in 2021. Pfizer last month committed to supply up to 40 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine this year through COVAX. The facility also has 150 million doses of the vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University.

Two Chinese companies, state-owned Sinopharm and Sinovac, have been behind a large part of the effort to take Chinese vaccines abroad, which has largely happened outside the COVAX framework. Both companies’ vaccines are inactivated, relying on a traditional technology of growing and killing a live virus. The virus is then purified before it is given as an injection.

The inactivated vaccines appear to be less effective than more modern mRNA vaccines. However, they are easier to transport than Pfizer’s mRNA vaccine, which requires ultracold storage, a challenge for many lower-income countries.

Only one of the vaccines, made by Sinopharm, has been approved for general use within China. Both, however, have won either emergency or broader approvals in other countries, and are actively being used in mass vaccination campaigns from the United Arab Emirates to Indonesia.

The vaccines have been criticized for a lack of transparency in data from the final stage of clinical trials. Sinopharm said its vaccine is 79.3% effective. Sinovac’s shot in particular has raised concerns after it initially announced an efficacy rate of 78% at protecting against symptomatic illness, but after counting mild cases announced that effectiveness is just over 50%, based on its trial in Brazil.

[Mike J]

2 minutes ago, scott h said:

One of my favorite authors, the GREAT Robert Heinlein coined a phrase in his book "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress"  

TANSTAAFL=There aint no such thing as a free lunch

Sinovac might be free now,,,,,but what will be expected  from the donee country down the line? 

Agree, they are not giving it away out of altruism in my opinion.  

[BC57]

22 hours ago, Mike J said:

I can't help but wonder if this all sinovac, a bad batch, or it is not effective against the "delta" strain of covid?  In any case I expect a great many people will now refuse it going forward, especially given the effectiveness was only 51% to begin with.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2021/06/17/chinas-sinovac-vaccine-under-scrutiny-as-covid-soars-in-highly-vaccinated-countries/?sh=1abc41001444

TOPLINE Concerns over the effectiveness of China’s Sinovac vaccine continue to grow—Indonesia reported hundreds of outbreaks among medical professionals who took the vaccine and hard-hit Costa Rica declined to use it for fear it won’t work—the latest stumbling block for China’s global vaccination drive as heavily vaccinated countries deploying its two flagship vaccines face some of the world’s worst outbreaks.

KEY FACTS
More than 350 doctors and medical professionals have contracted Covid-19 in Indonesia despite the majority of healthcare workers having been immunized with Sinovac, officials said Thursday, just over a month after officials praised the shot for wiping out the disease among health workers.

Dozens of these were hospitalized, officials added, leading experts to question the effectiveness of the Chinese shot, particularly against the infectious Delta variant fueling the country’s outbreak.    

These incidents add to growing concerns surrounding the efficacy of Chinese-made vaccines as fierce outbreaks tear through some of the most vaccinated nations, many of which relied heavily on China’s flagship Sinopharm and Sinovac vaccines for inoculation campaigns.

While both vaccines have been granted emergency authorization by the World Health Organization, Sinovac’s 51% efficacy only just exceeds the WHO’s 50% efficacy threshold for Covid-19 vaccines and a lack of public clinical data to back up manufacturers’ often inconsistent claims hampers public acceptance of the vaccine. 

CRUCIAL QUOTE
George Gao, the head of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, acknowledged the poor efficacy of China’s vaccines at a conference in April, in what seemed to be an unintentional dissent from the party line. Gao said the country was exploring ways to “solve the problem that the efficacy of the existing vaccines is not high.” China swiftly rejected the way Gao’s comments had been perceived on the domestic and international stage, flushing comments from social media and publicly rebuking the statement. On state media, Gao later described the incident as a “misunderstanding.”  

As I stated from the beginning, i will never take the Sinovac vaccine, no way no how.

[sonjack2847]

On 6/21/2021 at 10:27 AM, scott h said:

Here is what the "officials" dont say,,,,,,,,out of the 350, how many were hospitalized, how many died and how many just had runny noses?

Unless I am completely wrong,,,,(which happens often, just ask my wife) the primary purpose of the jab is to keep you out of intensive care and alive,,,not to keep you completely virus free.

In addition, i will be willing to bet a case of beer that once those 350 got the jab they started slacking off in there safety protocols.

Yes 

Scott very easy to quote figures and give a false outcome when the rest of the variants are omitted.