Wednesday, 17 March 2021

Big But Slow?

China, India and Russia have all produced vaccines, to counter the Covid-19 pandemic. All three are, however, finding it difficult to get their own populations vaccinated (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/mar/17/why-covid-vaccine-home-produced-india-russia-china-slow-start). The three countries all have vast, widely-dispersed populations, making reaching people difficult. The reasons, for their comparatively slow rates of vaccinations, seem, however, subtly different. In China, people appear convinced the enforced lockdowns have resulted in a situation, where Sars-CoV-2 is no longer a serious threat. China's government also seems more focused on donating their vaccine to countries where they want influence. In India, a relatively young population, don't regard Covid-19 as being the major health threat (compared with e.g. TB). In Russia, a large proportion of their population falsely believe that Covid-19 was a result of biochemical warfare. They neither trust their government nor the Sputnik-V vaccine. In all 3 countries, some unhelpful resistance/disinterest to vaccination is being shown by medics and paramedics. Eradication of the Sars-CoV-2 virus is extremely unlikely, if we have large reservoirs of unvaccinated people in China, India and Russia.

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