China tries to discredit vaccines

Chinese officials and the country’s state-run media are engaged in a campaign not only to cast doubt about the origin of the coronavirus, but also to question the safety of the vaccines being used around the world.

Health officials and government leaders worldwide must combat this campaign to discredit the vaccines and ramp up their own efforts to assure the public that the vaccines are safe and the way to put an end to this pandemic.

Chinese officials are fueling skepticism about the two Western vaccines — the one developed by U.S. pharmaceutical firm Pfizer and German biotech firm BioNTech, and the other from U.S. firm Moderna — at the very time that the United States and European countries are attempting to roll out mass vaccination plans. Chinese critics question the safety of the vaccines because of limited clinical studies regarding longterm side effects.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that ongoing studies of the two vaccines now in use — both of which are mRNA-based as opposed to vaccines using inactivated dead viruses — show limited side effects such as fevers, chills, tiredness and headaches. There have been cases of more severe adverse reactions, but those have been very small.

What’s more likely to be behind the campaign to discredit the vaccines is China’s own delay in developing an effective drug. While both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines reported nearly 90% effectiveness in combating COVID-19, Beijing-based Sinovac has thus far reported disappointing results with its CoronaVac vaccine. Brazilian researchers recently reported that the drug’s efficacy reached only about 50%.

While Chinese leader Xi Jinping has repeatedly pledged his country’s cooperation in promoting global vaccinations, state-run media has continued to question the Western vaccines.

And it’s likely no coincidence that Chinese officials are looking to change the narrative about COVID19 and vaccines at the same time a World Health Organization team is in Wuhan, China, to investigate the origin of the pandemic.

The numbers regarding the spread of COVID-19 since it was first reported in China more than a year ago are staggering: nearly 103 million people infected worldwide and more than 2.2 million deaths attributed to the virus. In the U.S., there have been more than 26 million cases and about 443,000 deaths.

The attempt to discredit the vaccines now being used in the U.S. and other countries must be countered with equally robust campaigns to encourage vaccination as soon as possible. President Joe Biden has set a lofty goal of 100 million vaccinations in the U.S. within his first 100 days in office. Health officials must continue to provide evidence that the vaccines are safe and the pathway out of the pandemic.