Effectiveness of Chinese COVID-19 vaccines creating doubt

Indonesian nurse Erny Kusuma Sukma Dewi died soon after she was given a dose of Beijing-based Sinovac Biotech's CoronaVac vaccine, reports Newsweek.

According to the National Union of Indonesian Nurses, 33-year-old Dewi contracted COVID-19 soon after she took a Chinese vaccine. Following fever, difficulty in breathing and coughing she died, reported the news magazine.

It is really surprising to many that the COVID-19 vaccine prepared by the country, which is believed to have seen the origin of the virus, has even started claiming lives.

Earlier this year, a Peruvian volunteer who took a trial of a Chinese vaccine died from COVID-19-related pneumonia. In December 2020, Peru's government suspended Sinopharm's COVID-19 vaccine because of a "serious adverse event" that occurred with a volunteer, reports Newsweek.

Brazil too reported a death due to China's Sinovac's vaccine, leading to the suspension of trials.

In January, Chinese vaccine expert Tao Lina rang an alarm on popular social networking site Weibo about Sinopharm's vaccine being the "most unsafe in the world" with 73 side effects, the news magazine reported.

Pain around the injection area, headache, high blood pressure, loss of vision, loss of taste and incontinence are among the adverse reactions outlined. As expected, Tao was silenced by Chinese authorities and his Weibo account was deleted, the magazine reported.

Countries, which are close to China, likeTurkey have been pushing hard to conduct vaccination programs using Chinese coronavirus vaccines..

However, people of the nations remain doubtful.

Sinovac dominates the supply of vaccines to Indonesia, where many are hesitant to get vaccinated due to concerns over safety and the efficacy of the jabs, according to a survey by Saiful Mujani Research and Consulting, reports Newsweek.

"Since many countries are planning to order, or have already ordered Sinovac's vaccines, it might undermine people's willingness to take them, because people may question the usefulness of the vaccines," Yanzhong Huang, a senior fellow for global health at the US based Council on Foreign Relations and expert on the Chinese health care system, told CNN.

"It could be a potential stumbling block."