Coronavirus 2019-2020 thread (no unsubstantiated rumours!)
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Ok, I'll weigh in a little, particularly regarding Malaysia's situation on its vaccination programme. There is an undeniable pressure from certain entities, political or the media, on the government to reveal its current state in vaccine procurement. Due to these pressures, and the fact that politically, the Malaysian government is hanging on to dear life from a razor thin parliamentary majority, it has to be seen to be doing something.
Without any confirmation from the Chinese vaccines, they are forced to announce with some (but not too much) fanfare about Malaysia's procurement of Pfizer/BioNTech's vaccine, and this past week, AstraZeneca's as well. Even then, from news report the numbers procured still only amount to about 20% of the country's needs. My theory is that the government is still waiting for the bulk of the Chinese vaccines to come online.
Luckily, Malaysia as a whole is not a wholesale Western propaganda colony, and generally, people is still respectful (although begrudgingly) of authority. But biases against anything Chinese are still embedded among the many of masses. I'm also encouraged by the Health Director-General's statement that any wide application of vaccines among the citizens would require the approval of the Health Ministry, and as far as they are concerned currently no vaccine including Pfizer's has submited it final official results yet.
Without any confirmation from the Chinese vaccines, they are forced to announce with some (but not too much) fanfare about Malaysia's procurement of Pfizer/BioNTech's vaccine, and this past week, AstraZeneca's as well. Even then, from news report the numbers procured still only amount to about 20% of the country's needs. My theory is that the government is still waiting for the bulk of the Chinese vaccines to come online.
Luckily, Malaysia as a whole is not a wholesale Western propaganda colony, and generally, people is still respectful (although begrudgingly) of authority. But biases against anything Chinese are still embedded among the many of masses. I'm also encouraged by the Health Director-General's statement that any wide application of vaccines among the citizens would require the approval of the Health Ministry, and as far as they are concerned currently no vaccine including Pfizer's has submited it final official results yet.
That's why Chinese companies are relying upon the clinical trials to penetrate markets and gain cooperation of the local government. However, the market is not as big as you might think. Latin America, Asia, Middle East, and North Africa, all of them are conducting clinical trials for Chinese companies. Many other countries would rely upon the Covax from WHO or donations to vaccinate their population.
If we don't count India, China, Western nations and their allies, then then there are 4 billions people. Out of the 4 billions people, only 2 billions could have accessed to vaccines and not totally rely upon WHO. In the end of the day, Chinese companies have cornered all markets that can be penetrated. They only need to compete with Pfizer, Moderna, and Astra.
Researchers in Brazil earlier this week releasing complete information on Sinovac’s vaccine, saying only that it was found to be more than 50% effective. Sao Paulo state Health Secretary Jean Gorinchteyn offered more specific guidance on Thursday, saying the vaccine “didn’t reach 90%” efficacy, which would make it less successful than those developed by and
“We don’t know how much more than 50% it was, whether it was 60%, 70% or 80%, but it’s at levels that allow us to reduce the impact of the disease on our population,” Gorinchteyn said in an interview with Brazil’s CBN Radio. “We knew that the effectiveness would never reach 90%.”
The reason Brazil hasn’t yet disclosed complete efficacy numbers is because Sinovac and its partners are reviewing all the Covid-19 cases found among participants, the person said. The Brazil trial has yielded more than 170 cases, but Sinovac needs to verify them to see whether they all meet the criteria set out by the Chinese drug regulator.
Regulators from China and Brazil, as well as Sinovac and its partners are still in the process of analyzing data from the Brazil trial, according to the person. Ultimately, Sinovac hopes to see unified standards to ensure equal comparisons across different trial sites, the person said. The protocol for the Brazil trial says Covid-19 cases are diagnosed in line with guidance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
In Malaysia, most of the population can be considered moderately anti-China due to the ethnic Malay-majority historical hate for the Chinese race. To them, anything Chinese is considered 'communist' and anti-Islam (yeah that's what's being spread around to this day). Then there are the ethnic Indian population who don't need any encouragement to hate China. And lastly, the Malaysian Chinese population is a mixed bag, like the Hong Kong population. First there are those who are in the Taiwan-HK camp who range from dislike to vehemently hating China. People like popular hip-hop artist and influencer Namewee is one of them. Typically, these are the younger generation and city dwellers. Second there are the pro-China camp who range from 'ok with China', to taking China as the 'motherland'. These people, like the pro-China HKgers, don't shout as loud on social media. So they are relatively silent compared to the anti-China camp. Typically, these are from the older generation and countryside dwellers who have seen hardship and endured systemic racism from the Malaysian government.
For now, there is general skepticism in Malaysia for all things China. That includes the Sinovac vaccine. There are calls in social media to shun this vaccine in favour of Western brand vaccines like Pfizer, Astra, and Moderna. Many even say they would rather wait for these than take Sinovac. I think this is idiotic, because Covid-19 in Malaysia is no longer in control. A vaccine is need now, not later.
Nevertheless, luckily for Malaysia, most Malaysians are hypocrites. There was many so called boycott campaigns against 'Jew-owned businesses' like Mc Donalds, and against 'China-owned companies' like Proton. But they never worked. People still go to Mc Donald's in crowds, and people still drive the latest Proton cars. So, I'm fairly confident that Sinovac should do well in Malaysia.
But having said that, Malaysians have proven me wrong before. The previous progressive government was well liked at first, but after only 2-years, Malaysians generally turned on them for no good reason. When the current coup-government came into power. It was hated at first, but after some flip-flopping, now generally accepted. So, with Malaysia, don't bet on anything.
Quickie
Colonel
In South East Asian countries, almost the entirety of the ethnic Chinese there lives in the cities/towns.
I think you'll be surprised if you go and visit these cities, how the majority of ethnic Chinese there are pro-China mainly for historical reason: grandparents having emigrated from China, with some of them still having relatives in China.
Remember how an ethnic Chinese owned restaurant in a city suburb in Malaysia making the effort to support Huawei due to the ban in the U.S.?
Those who are anti-China are usually mostly FLG's members and they have a disproportionately louder voice in relation to their tiny numbers thanks to their well-funded propaganda media.
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I can't speak for the rest of South East Asia. The Chinese population there looks to be generally more pro-China. Except for The Philippines with their more complicated mestizo history. I can speak for Malaysia because I'm in the country itself.
Again I would say that it is a mixed-bag. FLG is here in Malaysia, but its so small, its nothing actually. The main problem right now is the current younger generation of Malaysian Chinese. Many have grown up in the 1980s, 1990s, and early 2000s. At that time, HK, Taiwanese, and Japanese pop-culture reign supreme. So HK, Taiwan, and Japan were worshipped, while China was looked down upon. Its very easy to be influenced into hating China. Plus many Chinese independent schools in Malaysia have close ties to the Taiwanese education system. So some of that Taiwan>China mentality have creeped into education. That's not saying all Malaysian Chinese educated in these schools are anti-China. The more pro-China older generation can still steer them away from excessive China hating with mixed results.
Even till now in Malaysia, HK and Taiwan are generally misunderstood as separate from China thanks to years of Western, Taiwan, and pro-HK propaganda. And off course, their separate passports from China. So that feeds into the HK-Taiwan camp mentality.
I have friends, perhaps too many friends in the Taiwan-HK camp because I'm in the city. They would dream of vacationing or migrating to HK or Taiwan. Celebrating all the greatness of these 2 places. But China? Hell no! That's a communist dystopia, full of CCP propaganda, censorship, and scammers. If you want to find more pro-China people, they are there and there are many of them. But they don't shout about it so much. Well I think because it is just because these people are not as political or as hateful as the anti-China people. Let's just say they are more pragmatic. So I can also understand why HK has this 'silent pro-China camp' thing.
But coming back to Covid-19, Sinovac is most likely going to be the first vaccine to be available in Malaysia. The clinical trials is more or less done. And China can deliver the vaccines now, not later, unlike the Western brands. I don't care which vaccine comes first, as long as it is safe and available. Even if Pfizer is available first and safe, I would still take it. The Covid-19 handling is a mess in Malaysia, and the vaccine is our best hope of getting out of it ASAP!
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