By JOHN RICHARD SCHROCK
In much of the world, China’s coronavirus vaccines may be used first. That is the concluding statement in the brief summary of world vaccine efforts in the November 25 journal Science online. While the American press has mostly ignored vaccine efforts outside of the American “Warp Speed” effort, even our press coverage of the Pfizer (partner with BioNTech) and Astrazeneca (partner with Oxford) trials have downplayed the fact that these technologies are German and British efforts. And when the American press highlighted the start of the Phase 3 vaccine trials back in the middle of August, full trials were already underway with the Chinese coronaVac and Oxford vaccines weeks earlier.
Of the first eight vaccines beginning development early this year, four were in China. Three were conventional vaccines that used the whole virus that had been inactivated, similar to Salk’s safe polio vaccine. The problem China faced (along with Taiwan and South Korea) is that they rapidly halted the spread of the virus through extensive isolation of populations, massive testing and digital tracking. China did not have enough COVID-19 cases to run vaccination testing trials at home. They must have some level of infection to determine protection between the vaccination and placebo groups.
Therefore China arranged to conduct Phase 3 trials in Brazil, Indonesia and 13 other countries including the Arab world. In exchange, Chinese companies have promised to deliver large shipments of a successful vaccine to those countries, or in many cases produce the successful vaccine in-country. Because China and its neighbors have near-zero COVID, they are not in a panic to innoculate themselves.
China has likewise signed on to the international agreement “Covax,” now with 156 total nations, to share their vaccines with countries worldwide. This has been termed “vaccine diplomacy.” Medical scientists worldwide recognize that no one will be safe from a resurgence as long as this highly contagious coronavirus still infects any persons somewhere in the world. Only Russia and the United States have failed to join Covax, an act seen by the rest of the world as “vaccine nationalism.”
China’s researchers began working on vaccines on January 11, one day after they solved the genetic sequence of the virus. There was the possibility that this coronavirus would be contained and ended through patient isolation, similar to the 2003 SARS coronavirus. But soon the realization that there were asymptomatic carriers made this pandemic unstoppable.
The first vaccine to cause an immune response was produced by CanSino. It used an active harmless adenovirus to carry the COVID spike gene into a person’s body, stimulating an immune response. However, the immunity was weaker, perhaps due to our response also to the adenovirus carrier. Sinovac and CNBG, a branch of Sinopharm both independently pursued use of the “killed” (chemically inactivated) COVID virus, that would trigger a bigger immune response since the full virus is presented, similar to the safe and effective Salk polio vaccine. Such conventional vaccines do not require expensive ultra-cold freezers, making them more affordable and useful in remote rural regions.
With animal studies as well as Phase 1 and 2 trials showing the Chinese vaccines to be safe, China is moving ahead vaccinating troops who contribute to UN peacekeeping. Healthcare workers, border inspectors and others in high risk groups can likewise receive vaccinations on a completely voluntary basis and with informed consent. The new Western vaccines are likely to be much more expensive.
Another major conference provided an assessment of progress and future problems. The Lancet, the top medical journal in the world (based in the U.K.), held its annual conference with the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences on November 24-25. Over 20,000 of us went online to hear top experts from Harvard, University of Hong Kong, Imperial College of London, and Columbia University join counterparts from China to discuss today’s COVID-19 situation. Richard Horton, The Lancet’s editor-in-chief summarized the many conclusions, from the zero-Covid Asian countries that had suppressed it with non-pharmaceutical tactics, to the long-COVID concern that we might never fully get rid of this virus. A need for better education to overcome false public security is critical. But the infant and child educational development suppressed by education shutdowns was an even greater concern.
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John Richard Schrock has trained biology teachers for more than 30 years in Kansas. He also has lectured at 27 universities in 20 trips to China. He holds the distinction of “Faculty Emeritus” at Emporia State University.