While things like the Gamelaya vaccine deserved the slagging it got, that in no way makes me any happier.
We need vaccines like the ones from China and Russia that don't require negative stupid Celsius to store and distribute so we can get everybody on this planet vaccinated.
I was really hoping that someone was going to have a useful inactivated virus vaccine as storing and transporting those is much easier.
It looks like J&J is going to have the field to itself for a single dose, reasonable storage vaccine.
China made several 'traditional' vaccines instead of using mRNA technology like Sinovac. They have significantly lower effectivity numbers from what I've seen (~60% vs. ~90%). On the plus side, I think they also have fewer side effects.
That said, it's worth clarifying that their lesser effectivity comes from technological differences, not merely from being Chinese in origin.
I think it's more helpful to clarify that point than to discuss motives because it's true that some of the vaccines that happen to be Chinese in origin are provably less effective according to published studies, it's just not true that their Chinese origin is in any way causing this difference.
What? Pfizer and Moderna are the ones that use mRNA. CoronaVac is an inactivated vaccine, which is the traditional method of vaccine.