‘…there is an unspoken perception (actually,
unspoken is not accurate) that the Chinese vaccines are less effective than the Western ones.’
SINCE the first vaccines against COVID-19 were rolled out there has been an ongoing debate about which one is “the best.”
There are basically three categories of vaccines: the mRNA ones (Pfizer and Moderna): the viral vector ones (J&J/Jansen and AstraZeneca and Sputnik) and then there are the Chinese ones.
Of course, I am kidding. There are actually four.
First are the “Inactivated” ones which require a virus to be inactivated or killed, and this is the polio or flu vaccine we get. The two Chinese vaccines, CoronaVac (more popularly known as SinoVac) and Sinopharm, are examples of this one. India’s Covaxin made by Bharat Biotech is another example.
There is the “live attenuated” vaccine involving live but weakened viruses and we use this in MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) as well as in chickenpox and shingles vaccines.
There is the “viral vector” vaccine that uses a “safe” virus (a flu virus usually) to deliver a sub-part of the virus or germ so an immune response can be triggered. This is the J&J/Jansenn and the AstraZeneca format. The Russian Gamaleya, more popularly called Sputnik, is also an example.
And then there is the sub-unit and the generic approach types which do not use whole virus (whether dead or weakened) but just specific genetic parts containing specific instructions that are communicated to our cells and provoke the immune response. The mRNA vaccines (Pfizer and Moderna) are examples.
Which now is the best one?
If your Facebook feed allows you to receive a wide array of posts from a wide array of people you will know that a joke running around is that you’ll know by one’s post what vaccine one got: it is said that those who got Pfizer, Moderna, Astra or J&J are proud to proclaim the brand they got, while those who got jabbed with Sinovac proudly proclaim that “the best vaccine is what is in your arm.” It’s a joke but as they say in Filipino, “may laman.” That’s because there is an unspoken perception (actually, unspoken is not accurate) that the Chinese vaccines are less effective than the Western ones.
Heck, even on the matter of side effects some of my friends who got jabbed with Sinovac complain that they had no side effects, in stark comparison to the claims of the AZ, Pfizer or Moderna recipients. As if not having side effects means that the vaccine was ineffective.
But here is what I am trying to focus on: the matter of the type of vaccine and the timing of their development. Again, this is just my view.
Remember that the outbreak began in China in late 2019 and immediately Chinese scientists went to work starting with the breakdown of the genetic code of the virus in early 2020. This gave rise to the Chinese vaccines, based on the original virus.
The virus traveled, however, to Europe and to the United States. But once it got there it mutated. Seems to me that the Western vaccines (Pfizer, Moderna and AZ) were thus developed as a response to these new strains.
But the virus wasn’t done yet. It traveled to South America and to Africa. While the virus in its beta variant was raging there, J&J began testing its one-shot vaccine.
Then the virus kept spreading in India and from India back to Europe via the UK, to the US and now everywhere else. But this is no longer alpha or beta; it is now the Delta variant.
Which then is the best vaccine? Honestly? Whatever it is in your arm. But — and this is a hopeful but — I am looking forward to any vaccine updates from India as they may have the latest formula to address the variant that at present is most worrisome to us all.
Stay safe. And get jabbed.
