Indonesia places risky bet on Chinese coronavirus vaccines
JAKARTA, Indonesia — Indonesia is betting that China-made coronavirus vaccines can help it tackle one of the worst outbreaks in Asia, but analysts warn it is a wager that could leave them holding a high-interest diplomatic IOU.
Beijing has promised poorer nations priority access to its inoculations, in an attempt to repair an image tarnished by the pandemic, which started in the central Chinese city of Wuhan.
This week, Indonesia received 1.2 million doses of a COVID-19 vaccine made by China's Sinovac, with another 1.8 million set to arrive next month, but experts say this access could have strings attached.
"China's 'vaccine diplomacy' is not unconditional," Ardhitya Eduard Yeremia and Klaus Heinrich Raditio said in a paper published this month by the Singapore-based Yusof Ishak Institute.
"Beijing may use its vaccine donations to advance its regional agenda, particularly on sensitive issues such as its claims in the South China Sea."
Indonesia started human trials of the Sinovac vaccine this summer, and it has not yet been approved by Chinese or Indonesian regulators.
Jakarta has signed deals for more than 350 million vaccine doses from different suppliers, including AstraZeneca, but the majority will come from Chinese suppliers, including Sinovac and Sinopharm, according to a Duke University vaccine tracking project.
"The vaccine cooperation with China is the most high profile," said Evan Laksmana, a senior researcher at the Jakarta-based Centre for Strategic and International Studies.
"That creates potential implications down the line (and) to what extent Indonesia would be highly dependant on the Chinese medical supply chain over the long run."
Indonesia, the world's fourth-most populous nation with 270 million people, has reported more than half a million coronavirus infections and around 18,000 deaths. Low rates of testing means these official figures are widely thought to be well below the reality.
'Clever balancing game'
China is Indonesia's top trading partner and the Southeast Asian nation is home to numerous projects, including a high-speed train line, that are part of Beijing's globe-spanning Belt and Road infrastructure building blitz.
However, the relationship has its problems.
In January, Indonesia deployed fighter jets and warships to patrol the Natuna islands after Chinese coast guard and fishing vessels entered the area on the edge of the South China Sea.
Jakarta has since toned down its response, turning to diplomatic protests instead.
The United States views Jakarta as a key strategic partner as it pushes back against China's growing influence and controversial military build-up in the South China Sea.
"At the moment, Indonesia is playing a rather clever balancing game in order to avoid identification with just one of the two great powers," said Marcus Mietzner, an associate professor at Australian National University.
"(Indonesia) has already made it known that it would not accept a potential Chinese request to build a military base in Indonesia. While it is not clear whether China actually made such a request, its rejection was noted with great satisfaction in Western capitals."
But with the US epidemic surging, Washington is focused on fighting the coronavirus at home and may not be able to knock Beijing off its vaccine diplomacy blitz.
And despite some disputes, the relationship with China remains crucial for Jakarta, and it may find itself indebted diplomatically to Beijing because of the vaccines.
"So far, there is yet to be any serious quid pro quo with regards to the vaccine," said researcher Laksmana.
"But everyone in Jakarta is aware... it would be harder for us to make a series of moves in foreign policy or something else that might (damage) the relationship with China."
Pharma giants Sanofi and GSK said on July 29, 2020, that they have agreed to supply Britain with up to 60 million doses of a potential COVID-19 vaccine. The agreement covers a vaccine candidate developed by France's Sanofi in partnership with the UK's GSK and is subject to a "final contract."
This thread collects some of the major developments in the search for a vaccine to ease the new coronavirus pandemic. (Main photo by AFP/Joel Saget)
As negotiations towards a new pandemic treaty pick up pace, observers warn of watered-down efforts to ensure equitable access to the medical products needed to battle future Covid-like threats.
Shaken by the pandemic, the World Health Organization's 194 member states are negotiating an international accord aimed at ensuring countries are better equipped to deal with the next catastrophe, or even prevent it altogether.
The process is still in the early stages, with the aim of reaching an agreement by May 2024.
But critics warn that revisions being made to the preliminary negotiating text are weakening the language -- notably in a key area aimed at preventing the rampant inequity seen in access to vaccines and other medical products during the Covid pandemic.
"I think it is a real step backwards," Suerie Moon, co-director of the Global Health Centre at the Geneva Graduate Institute, told AFP. — AFP
Africa's first mRNA vaccine hub is ceremonially launched on Thursday to acclaim from the UN's global health chief, who hailed it as a historic shift to help poor countries gain access to life-saving jabs.
The facility was set up in the South African city of Cape Town in 2021 on the back of the success of revolutionary anti-Covid vaccines introduced by Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna.
"This precious project... will bring a paradigm shift in addressing the serious problem we faced, the equity problem, during the pandemic, so (that) it's not repeated again," World Health Organization (WHO) head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus tells a media briefing to mark the inauguration. — AFP
China has approved its first locally developed messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccine against Covid-19, its manufacturer said Wednesday, months after the relaxation of strict Covid-zero regulations sparked a surge in cases.
The vaccine, developed by CSPC Pharmaceutical Group Ltd, has been approved for "emergency use" by Beijing's health regulator, the company said in a statement.
It showed high efficacy in a trial in which it was used as a booster shot for people who have been given other types of vaccines, the company added, without offering further details. — AFP
COVID-19 vaccine maker Novavax raises doubts about its ability to continue its business, announcing plans to cut spending after struggles in rolling out its coronavirus jab.
Shares of Novavax plummeted 25 percent in extended trading, after the company reported fourth-quarter earnings that missed analyst estimates.
While the firm should have enough money to fund operations, the situation is "subject to significant uncertainty," it says in a statement. — AFP
The protection against Covid-19 from being previously infected lasts at least as long as that offered by vaccination, one of the largest studies conducted on the subject says.
Ten months after getting Covid, people still had an 88% lower risk of reinfection, hospitalisation and death, according to the study published in the Lancet journal.
That makes this natural immunity "at least as durable, if not more so" than two doses of Pfizer or Moderna's vaccines, the study says.
The authors nevertheless emphasized that their findings should not discourage vaccination, which remains the safest way to get immunity. — AFP
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