3 ms·
It was very clear what Omicron was by that point. China didn't really relax restrictions until December 2022. By May of 2022, most other countries had pretty
by refurb 4y ago
It was very clear what Omicron was by that point. China didn't really relax restrictions until December 2022. By May of 2022, most other countries had pretty much opened up and had Omnicron run rampant through their populations.
My hypothesis is that China stuck with it so long because: 1) their vaccine wasn't that good and they refused superior mRNA vaccines and 2) their ego was all wrapped up in the "glory of the Chinese way" of dealing with Covid and letting it run rampant was tantamount to admitting their policy was wrong.
- onethought 4y agoIt wasnt ego. There wasn’t ready supply of 3 billion doses of mRNA vaccines (its more than one dose)
- refurb 4y agoDoubtful. Pfizer manufacturer 4B and Moderna almost the same. Plus Fosun-BioNTech partnership allowed manufacturing in Hong Kong. There was certainly capacity to produce enough or at least enough for a large percentage of the Chinese population. China just decided they weren't going to use it. It literally wasn't allowed. If China had used a mix of mRNA and other vaccines I might see the argument they had a lack of supply.
- kilgnad 4y agoThe US didn't allow the Chinese vaccine to be used either. It's Also because of ego across the board. It still isn't allowed in the US. There were definitely supply problems in the US in the beginning.
- refurb 4y agoDid China submit their vaccine to the FDA? Not as far as I’m aware. And before China opened up millions of doses were being destroyed by countries who bought too much. China absolutely could have gotten mRNA vaccines. Hell, Hong Kong had them. So like i said, they could have gotten access to some mRNA vaccines, they choose not to.
- onethought 4y ago> China absolutely could have gotten mRNA vaccines. Hell, Hong Kong had them. Hong Kong has 7 million people… 7 million != 1.3 billion.
- refurb 4y agoAre you saying Hong Kong can't produce more vaccine than its own population? I mean, the US produced enough for 20x it's population.
- onethought 4y agoI’m saying no one could produce enough supply for the whole world plus China. That capability is only just coming online nowish. And yes HK couldn’t produce or purchase the billions of doses required to vaccinate the mainland. I’m saying that too
- refurb 4y agoThey dont need to produce enough for all of China. They could have imported 100M and used that. They didnt.
- onethought 4y agoIt would have been pointless. 10% vaccinated would not have had a big enough impact rate of hospitalisation. I think you don’t really understand the problem.
- hnfong 4y agoHong Kong imported the vaccines. The city was international enough that using a foreign (non-Chinese) vaccine wasn't a political statement that the Chinese vaccine wasn't as effective. The political calculus is different for China generally.
- 4y ago
- onethought 4y agoSo do the math: 1.3 billion x 3/4/5 doses… It was never a viable choice. They also had a low trust society in western medicine, there never got effective uptake of any of the vaccines. It meant they didn’t have the options that countries like Taiwan and Australia had, where high vaccine uptake allowed lockdowns to be loosened.
- kilgnad 4y agoYes, I don't completely disagree. But keep in mind. Every government including the US one, has ego.