Doubts raised over Chinese vaccines in south-east Asia

SOUTH-EAST Asia is reducing its reliance on Chinese vaccines, amid concerns about their efficacy as the Indian variant spreads through the region.

Public doubts about the Sinovac and Sinopharm vaccines against the highly contagious mutation could deal a blow to China’s vaccine diplomacy efforts in its own back yard.

Fears have centred in particular on infections and deaths among inoculated front-line health workers, prompting both Indonesia and Thailand this month to change their vaccine policies and offer booster shots of Moderna and Astrazeneca to medics.

In Indonesia, Covid-19 is taking a devastating toll on healthcare workers, with 114 doctors dying so far this month, according to the Indonesian Medical Association. In early July, the Thai health ministry confirmed that 618 medical workers who had received two doses of Sinovac had also been infected.

Malaysia last week announced it too would consider booster shots of either Pfizer-biontech or the Astrazeneca vaccines for people who had received a double shot of Sinovac. The government, which is facing discontent over soaring cases despite a protracted lockdown, said it would stop administering Sinovac beyond its current stocks of 12 million doses.

The slower release of data on Chinese vaccines has fanned doubts over efficacy, even though Sinopharm was given approval by the World Health Organisation in May, and Sinovac in June. No major safety concerns have been flagged.