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China has been developing a coronavirus vaccine since January 2020. Photo: globaltimes.cn
Ukraine agreed to buy 1.9 million doses of the Chinese coronavirus vaccine.
The first doses of Sinovac’s CoronaVac could ship in February after the drug is approved in China.
And this will apparently be the first coronavirus vaccine that Ukraine will receive, as there are difficulties with the supply of Western vaccines (Ukraine is not at the forefront there), free vaccines through the COVAX mechanism are unknown when they will arrive, and our authorities do not want the Russian vaccine. take for political reasons.
Vaccines from a Chinese manufacturer will be administered mainly to Ukrainians in the risk zone: those who work with coronavirus patients, as well as workers in critical areas. They promise to vaccinate for free.
At the same time, the purchase price of the Chinese drug turned out to be quite expensive.
In addition, political problems may arise associated with the habit of Americans to block agreements between Ukraine and China.
They answered five main questions about the Chinese vaccine, which will soon arrive in Ukraine.
1. What is the Chinese vaccine?
Sinovac Biotech is the largest vaccine company in China. Their coronavirus vaccine, CoronaVac, is an inactivated vaccine that comes in a syringe and is stored at temperatures between +2 and +8.
For immunization, you need two injections, two weeks apart. The vaccine is based on coronavirus samples obtained in different countries of the world, but especially in China.
According to the developer, the CoronaVac vaccine lasts 42 days at a temperature of +25 and retains its properties for 28 days at a temperature of +37.
Work on a vaccine at Sinovac Biotech began in January 2020, just after Wuhan officially confirmed the spread of pneumonia of unknown origin. In June, the drug entered trials, which, by the way, continue to this day.
2. Has the CoronaVac been tested?
Officially, this vaccine has not yet passed the third stage of testing; its completion is scheduled for January, when the drug will be presented for retraining by the WHO.
At the same time, the countries that have already purchased the first shipments of CoronaVac from China – Indonesia, Turkey, Brazil – are carrying out the third phase in their territory. The signs there are contradictory.
In Indonesia, 1,600 patients were tested and the vaccine was 97% effective. In Turkey: 1,325 patients, 91% efficiency.
But in Brazil, where the third stage of trials is taking place, they said the Chinese vaccine showed 50% effectiveness. This was personally announced by the country’s president, Jair Bolsonaro.
Therefore, for now, the Brazilian coronavirus vaccination plan includes the Russian vaccine Sputnik V and the British drug AstraZeneca (the latter is expected to receive 100 million doses). And the Chinese drug is in question.
In this regard, the statements of Ukrainian officials are recalled that the Russian vaccine Sputnik V has not been tested and therefore will not be purchased (although Sputnik has already passed the third stage of testing and the population of Russia, Belarus , Argentina and soon it is actively vaccinating). and in other countries).
And now Kiev has decided to buy the Chinese CoronaVac vaccine, which has not yet completed the third stage of trials and has not received registration even in China (this is expected only in January).
By the way, it is interesting that an intermediary will be bought – the Ukrainian company Lekhim, which officially financed the electoral campaign of the Golos party. He transferred three million hryvnias to the accounts of the Vakarchuk political force.
Valery Pechaev is the director of Lekhim’s supervisory board. In the pharmaceutical market, you don’t need a special presentation. Pechaev heads the organization of employers of the medical and microbiological industry, which experts say is the spokesperson for the operators of the national pharmaceutical market. So, this organization has always been against the transfer of state purchases of medicines to international organizations.
By the way, Lekhim started negotiating with the Chinese in the summer. In July, the company’s official website reported that Lekhim was working to sign a contract for the supply of a vaccine against the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
And literally a week later, the news broke that Lekhim-Kharkiv had started designing facilities for the production of preventive vaccines against SARS-CoV-2, the influenza virus (quadrivalent vaccine) and polio. The planned production volume is 30 million units of vaccines per year. The new line is scheduled to go into operation in the first apartment in 2022.
“Obviously, initially Lekhim worked according to his own scenario: they were looking for an international partner, first for the distribution and then for the production of the covid vaccine. “Plan B”, Lekhim’s developments were helpful, “said our source in the pharmaceutical market.
3. How much does the vaccine cost and how many people will it last?
For Medzakupki Ukrainy, this is a contract for 1.9 million doses at 504 UAH each. That is, overall, the purchase of CoronaVac will cost almost a billion.
Remember that immunity requires two doses per person. That is to say Sinovac supplies will be enough for 950 thousand Ukrainians… This is 2.5% of the country’s population.
Recall that the Ukrainian budget for the purchase of vaccines provides 2.6 billion hryvnia. If all this money goes to buy Sinovac products at the specified price, then the money will be enough to vaccinate about two and a half million people (more than five million doses).
The authorities promise to vaccinate another four million people as part of the humanitarian aid through Covax (although the western media write that they will give us half the doses). That is, in the optimistic scenario, more than six million Ukrainians will receive the vaccine at the expense of the budget, and in the pessimistic scenario, four.
It is also interesting to compare the price of the Chinese vaccine and other offers. 504 hryvnia costs about $ 18 per dose.
The Russian Sputnik V vaccine, as previously announced, will be sold abroad for no more than $ 10 per vial. But the other day, the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation approved the maximum export price at $ 25 for two doses at a time. That is, a maximum of $ 12.5 per injection, but it can be less.
Considering that Russia offered to produce Sputnik at the Ukrainian facility, the price may be even lower. Despite the fact that the vaccine already passed all the testing stages in early December.
Western vaccine prices are a complex issue. They depend on market conditions. Recently, a scandal broke out in Belgium: a local government official published the prices at which the EU contracts for vaccines. But after a government shock, he deleted his tweet.
According to this report, the British Astrazeneca became the most accessible to Europeans and the Modern American became the highway.
- AstraZeneca: $ 2.18
- Johnson & Johnson: $ 8.50
- Sanofi: $ 9.27
- Pfizer and BioNTech: $ 14.71
- CureVac: $ 12.26
- Modern: $ 18
As you can see, Ukraine buys the Chinese vaccine at the price the EU pays for the most expensive American vaccine. It is true that Europe orders large quantities and consequently the price is lower. Ukraine buys a small amount of the drug according to EU standards. And even urgently. Therefore, the Chinese can play with the price and demand more money for their product.
But the price is still very high.
4. What is the delivery time?
Under the terms of the agreement, the first batch of vaccine in the amount of 700 thousand doses will be delivered to Ukraine within 30 days after the official registration in China, or by one of the competent authorities of the USA, Great Britain, Switzerland, Japan, Australia, Canada, Israel, India, Mexico Brazil. Or according to the centralized procedure of the European Union.
That is, the first doses may arrive in Ukraine in February, after the planned registration in China (expected during January). The rest should be shipped by the end of the first quarter, that is, in April.
5. What will the Americans say?
The main political issue regarding Chinese acquisitions is the US position.
In the fall, the Americans openly prohibited Ukraine from buying the Russian vaccine.
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America’s concern was clearly geopolitical, not medical.
Allowing Ukraine to buy the vaccine from the “aggressor country” meant questioning the official doctrine of Kiev’s break with Moscow. Furthermore, the Americans apparently hoped to retain the Ukrainian market for medical purchases.
However, something went wrong.
The West was in no rush to help Ukraine with vaccines and put it at the bottom of the queue for a vital drug. This caused outrage even among Zelensky, who in an interview with The New York Times asked how he should now explain to the dying why he should not buy the Sputnik V vaccine.
However, they still did not dare to buy the Russian drug and went the other way: they turned to the Chinese. Another enemy of the United States. But for Ukraine it is clearly the lesser of evils, as Kiev maintains more or less normal relations with China.
However, there may also be problems in relations with Washington here.
You don’t have to go far to get examples. Recently, Washington ordered Kiev to replace the equipment of the Huawei company, which is installed in the ministries, with similar products from the US company Sisco. Also, at its own expense (the United States agreed to only discount).
Everyone knows the example of the Motor Sich plant, which the United States prohibited from selling to Chinese investors and forced the deal to be canceled. Time will tell if the Chinese vaccine will be the same.
It is possible that in this case the United States will close its eyes to the “Chinese origin” of the vaccine.
Because this will allow the Ukrainian authorities to somehow get out of it by explaining to the public why the Russian vaccine is not being bought, even though we cannot get the Western one.
In this case, it is possible to say that Kiev has found a substitute – the Chinese vaccine. Even if you haven’t passed all the tests yet and haven’t even registered at home.
