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Fosun (a company in the PRC) [1] has a license for manufacturing of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine [2], so I have been puzzled for well over a year as to why it is

by ninjin 4y ago

Fosun (a company in the PRC) [1] has a license for manufacturing of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine [2], so I have been puzzled for well over a year as to why it is not deployed. The few channels I have into the PRC keeps telling me that there is also a general unwillingness to vaccinate among the population (but no clear reason as to why). In general, I remain perplexed as to how the PRC can enforce the strictest lockdowns in the world; yet apparently be completely inept at getting the population vaccinated, when countries such as Japan has never had any lockdowns and never mandated vaccinations and are now doing seemingly far better. I just want to know what piece of the puzzle I am missing. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fosun_International https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fosun_International [2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pfizer%E2%80%93BioNTech_COVID%E2%80%9119_vaccine#Manufacturing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pfizer%E2%80%93BioNTech_COVID%...

em500 4y ago
Indeed, it's a bit puzzling. In Hong Kong, people could freely choose between Sinovac and Comirnaty ("Pfizer" for most in the West, but "Fosun-BioNTech" to those in Hong Kong), both were widely available during the main vaccination drive. Roughly half choose Sinovac, anecdotally due to scare stories on social media at the time about the "experimental, unproven" mRNA tech vs the "traditional, tried and tested" inactivated virus tech of Sinovac. The biggest COVID problem in Hong Kong (and also to a large extend in China) I gather is that the vaccination rate among the elderly was the lowest, which is a reversal from most other countries. That creates huge problems for hospitals, as the elderly are massively over-represented in COVID hospitalisations. It's not completely known why the elderly vaccination rate is relatively low, but I suspect misinformation and conspiracy stories (which proliferate just as much on the Chinese social media platforms as here on Facebook) is a significant contributor.

by ninjin 4y ago

em500 4y ago

Indeed, it's a bit puzzling. In Hong Kong, people could freely choose between Sinovac and Comirnaty ("Pfizer" for most in the West, but "Fosun-BioNTech" to those in Hong Kong), both were widely available during the main vaccination drive. Roughly half choose Sinovac, anecdotally due to scare stories on social media at the time about the "experimental, unproven" mRNA tech vs the "traditional, tried and tested" inactivated virus tech of Sinovac. The biggest COVID problem in Hong Kong (and also to a large extend in China) I gather is that the vaccination rate among the elderly was the lowest, which is a reversal from most other countries. That creates huge problems for hospitals, as the elderly are massively over-represented in COVID hospitalisations. It's not completely known why the elderly vaccination rate is relatively low, but I suspect misinformation and conspiracy stories (which proliferate just as much on the Chinese social media platforms as here on Facebook) is a significant contributor.