Asian countries are forced to choose between the vaccines against coronavirus, developed in the United States and China. The journalists of the newspaper South China Morning Post spoke to experts who explained the motivation of the States in the region.
Around the world are already developing the 160 vaccines, and pharmaceutical companies are beginning to conclude treaties with countries. The last hope that a vaccine against coronavirus infection will allow it as soon as possible to restore the economy and return to normal life.
Among those who wants to buy the vaccine was developed by Beijing — the Philippines and Malaysia. Indonesia is developing the drug along with China: company Bio Farma and Sinovac working on it since April, if successful, they will produce 250 million doses per year. However, other Asian countries such as Japan, Singapore and Thailand — most likely will acquire us vaccine. So, Tokyo and American companies developing drugs have agreed on the supply of the experimental doses.
The Director of the division of healthy companies Marsh & McLennan Advantage Kavita Hariharan (Hariharan Kavitha) believes that this choice is due to safety and efficacy of vaccines. In addition, countries may be concerned about the cost of drugs: because of this, States with large population can choose pharmaceutical companies with cheaper product.
Associate Professor school of public health, National University of Singapore Jeremy lim (Jeremy Lim) argues that geopolitical motives may also influence the choice of Asia. So, if the country has a long history of good relations with China, she can put those interests above the security and efficacy of the vaccine.
The total number of people infected with coronavirus in the world by the morning of August 6, exceeded the 18.7 million people. The pandemic has covered 188 countries. Most affected by the pandemic country — the United States, where the number of infected exceeded of 4.82 million.
