China helps SE Asia dose up on optimism

Timely aid

According to a white paper issued by China's State Council Information Office, China sent 29 teams of medical experts to 27 countries in the first five months of 2020. Aside from the Philippines, other nations included Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar and Pakistan.

Local governments, enterprises, civil organizations and individuals from China have donated medical supplies to more than 150 countries and regions as well as international organizations, Chinese Vice-Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu said in June. Anti-epidemic materials were exported from China to over 200 countries and regions.

"I have talked to some officials in the Philippines and Malaysia who are familiar with the Chinese delegations. They are quite grateful" for the assistance provided by China, said Chan.

The Philippines has secured 25 million doses of the Sinovac vaccine, with the first batch of 50,000 doses to be delivered by February, according to Xinhua.

"The Philippines just as with many other Southeast Asian countries want to start the vaccinations as soon as possible so as to quickly bring things back to normalcy. So vaccines from China are well-appreciated in this regard," Rabena said.

China's vaccine cooperation goes far wider.

Michael Felfernig, medical director of the Abu Dhabi-based healthcare services provider RPMVPS Group, said the United Arab Emirates government is encouraging people to take the vaccine developed by Sinopharm, with the protective jabs a must for frontline healthcare staff.

Felfernig, who was inoculated in September, has been administering the Chinese jabs to his staff through his group's vaccination program. He said he experienced no side effects and that tests showed he has gained immunity.

The UAE became the first country to offer Chinese-developed COVID-19 vaccines to all citizens and residents for free, on Dec 23, media reports said. The move came after the country approved the use of the Sinopharm vaccine in early December. The trials in UAE shows the Chinese vaccine provides 86 percent efficacy against COVID-19 infection.

"There are reports that the UAE is planning to manufacture the Chinese vaccine in the UAE," said Felfernig.

In the Middle East, Bahrain approved emergency use of Sinopharm's vaccine in December after the nation earlier approved one from Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech.

In Turkey, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca on Wednesday received the Sinovac vaccine along with Turkey's advisory science council members on the eve of a nationwide vaccination drive.

They received the first shots on live television shortly after the vaccine was granted emergency authorization for use in Turkey.

The country has signed up for 50 million doses of Sinovac's CoronaVac. Twenty million of them are due to arrive by the end of the month.

In Ukraine, the country expects to start vaccination in the first half of 2021 with help from Sinovac, according to Lekhim Group, the country's leading pharmaceutical company.

Lekhim signed an agreement on Monday with Sinovac on the purchase of 5 million doses of CoronaVac, becoming the exclusive supplier of the vaccine in the country. It will receive the vaccine after it is registered for use in the country.

In South America, Peru will pay $26 million for an initial batch of 1 million doses of the Sinopharm vaccine, part of a broader agreement with the Chinese company to supply 38 million doses, Economy Minister Waldo Mendoza said on Tuesday.

Chan said China has demonstrated its strength in biotechnology during the pandemic.

"China isolated the (COVID-19) virus in a week, which is the fastest on human record. They also developed the test kit in less than a week after isolation and shared the sequence with the WHO," he said.

While the COVID-19 situation is relatively stable in China, there have been some new variants of the virus circulating globally, creating fresh risks in the fight against the virus.

"Scientific collaborations are necessary to gain quickly representative valid data which are informative about the efficiency and tolerance of different populations," said Felfernig.

Felfernig, who hopes Sinopharm will release more data about its vaccine in the future, said it is necessary that the COVID-19 jabs are affordable to all.

"This pandemic is affecting us all and we need to help each other," he said.

Jan Yumul in Hong Kong,Leonardus Jegho in Jakarta and agencies contributed to this story.