Why Covid-19 outbreaks in countries using Chinese vaccines don’t necessarily mean the shots have failed – CNN

What links these countries is that they have each fully inoculated more than 50% of their populations, largely with Chinese-made coronavirus vaccines. And that's raised questions over the vaccines' efficacy.

If the Chinese vaccines aren't working, that's a huge problem -- and not just from a health perspective. Beijing has staked its reputation on providing other countries with vaccines.

Experts say that while these Chinese vaccines might not be as effective as some, they aren't a failure. No vaccine gives 100% protection against Covid-19, so breakthrough cases are to be expected.

The crucial metric for measuring success, they say, is preventing deaths and hospitalizations, not aiming for zero Covid-19.

Why are vaccinated people getting sick?

China has two vaccines authorized for emergency use by the World Health Organization (WHO), Sinopharm and Sinovac. Both use inactivated viruses to prompt an immune response in the patient, a tried and tested vaccine method.

"If we want to bring down the severe cases (and) the number of deaths, the Sinopharm, Sinovac can help."Professor Jin Dong-yan,Virologist, Hong Kong University

Experts say the outbreaks in places that used Chinese vaccines are broadly in line with what we would expect from these efficacy rates.

"If we want to bring down the severe cases (and) the number of deaths, the Sinopharm, Sinovac can help," said Jin Dong-yan, a professor in molecular virology at Hong Kong University.

Ben Cowling, a professor of infectious disease epidemiology at the same university, said the Chinese vaccines appeared to be limiting the number of serious infections and deaths.

"I think the vaccines are certainly working and they're certainly saving a lot of lives," he said.

What's going on in Chile, Mongolia and Seychelles?

"We cannot differentiate between Covid-19 vaccines, saying this one is bad or that one is good."Enkhsaihan Lkhagvasuren,Mongolian Ministry of Health

And she maintained that Sinopharm had been very effective.

"We cannot differentiate between Covid-19 vaccines, saying this one is bad or that one is good. All of the available vaccines reduce the risk of severe illness," she said.

Odgerel Chuluunbat, a fully vaccinated business owner in Mongolia's capital Ulaanbaatar who tested positive for Covid-19 two weeks ago and recovered at home, said she believed her infection could have been much worse without the Sinopharm vaccine.

"I don't regret getting the jab," she said. "Without it, the situation in the country would be very bad."

Why are vaccinated people dying?

Some people who are getting vaccinated with Sinovac or Sinopharm are still dying of Covid -- although these breakthrough cases are possible with any vaccine.

An estimated 1,600 doctors in Indonesia have been infected with Covid-19 in May and June alone, although it's unclear how many of those had been vaccinated.

Adib said most medical workers died because they were in a unique circumstance: they were overwhelmed with patients, meaning they had to work long hours with little rest.

"Based on our investigation data, the death of medical workers has nothing to do with the Sinovac vaccine," Adib said. "The most important thing is taking the Covid vaccine and people should keep following health protocols."

Dr. Hermawan Saputra, an epidemiologist and member of the Indonesian Public Health Experts Association, said more virulent strains of Covid-19 may have reduced the efficacy of the vaccines.

Virologist Jin cautioned there could be underlying issues in these serious cases. Some vaccinated people hospitalized with Covid-19 might be immunocompromized, meaning their body is not able to produce a strong immune response, he said.

Have the Chinese vaccines failed?

Pfizer and Moderna vaccines appear to be more effective than Sinovac and Sinopharm at limiting transmission, but whether the two WHO-approved Chinese vaccines have failed depends on the metrics for success.

Jin said the Chinese vaccines' efficacy might not be high enough to stop the virus circulating in a community, thereby putting herd immunity out of reach. That runs the risk of vaccine-resistant variants emerging.

"It's possible that the end of the pandemic might be delayed, or we might have to work with these flu-like diseases for a longer period of time," Jin said. "(The Sinovac, Sinopharm vaccines) are good, but they're just not good enough. We want the vaccine to help put an end to the pandemic, and if that is the case, Pfizer and Moderna are doing a much better job."

He said the manufacturers of the Sinopharm and Sinovac vaccines have a responsibility to improve, which could just be a matter of increasing the dose or adding a third dose.

Pfizer and Moderna may roll out in more countries next year after manufacturing capacity is increased. But right now, there's just not enough to go around.

Even so, getting a Chinese vaccine is still better than nothing, said Scott Rosenstein, director of the global health program at Eurasia Group.

"In places where that's the only option, it still remains the best decision to take it," he said.

And he worries that criticism of the Chinese vaccines may encourage people to wait until more effective vaccines become available.

"That itself creates challenges for the rollout, it means that you vaccinate people slower," he said.

As it exports vaccines around the world, Beijing has promoted the Sinopharm and Sinovac shots as "Chinese vaccines," aligning the products with China's government in a way not seen in the US or the UK.

Neither vaccine company has made extensive trial data public, which may allow efficacy questions to continue.

"The most I can say about that data is that those vaccines seem to work OK," Rosenstein said. "You're sort of partially flying blind here because the gold standard is a randomized trial, and we don't have that much to work with for those."

The lack of data has fed skepticism. Now reports of cases even among vaccinated people is prompting a backlash. In Mongolia, where there's already a long-running anti-China sentiment, partly thanks to a belief that neighboring China wants to undermine its sovereignty, many are frustrated about the rate of infections.

Gandi Boldbaatar, a 22-year-old student, said she was fully vaccinated with Sinopharm a month ago, but tested positive for Covid-19 last week and is now in intensive care in a government hospital. She said she didn't think Mongolia's vaccination campaign was very effective.

"I still got very sick," she said. "If given the option to get inoculated again with Sinopharm or any other vaccine, I will refuse it."

"It's too early to say that the verdict is in," Rosenstein said. "The downside (of vaccine diplomacy) may have outweighed the upside ... I think that the vaccine diplomacy objectives of China at this point are not being realized."

But the bigger picture, Rosenstein said, isn't about politics -- it's about health.

"It's bad for public health when you have so much political jockeying instead of good faith discussions around what's the best way to get this outbreak under control."

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Why Covid-19 outbreaks in countries using Chinese vaccines don't necessarily mean the shots have failed - CNN