The imposition of the zero Covid policy in China generated social and health chaos, culminating in the death of ten people in a factory in Xinjiang and protests against Xi Jinping. This situation led the Chinese leader to determine the end of a long policy in one of the last countries to still suffer substantially from the pandemic that devastated the world in 2020 and 2021.
With the end of the zero Covid policy, China experienced a general feeling of relief. However, the lack of an essential element is putting the country in a complicated situation that, like the last time, leads to numerous interconnected problems: pressure on hospitals, deaths, factory closures, damage to the production chain and negative impact on the economy. (which is the main support base of the Chinese Communist Party before society). This key element to overcome the crisis is the vaccine.
China was one of the first countries in the world to develop anti-covid-19 vaccines. Both Coronavac and Sinovac are Chinese-made, although the Chinese government is also involved in funding the AstraZeneca vaccine and, via BioNTech, indirectly linked to the Pfizer vaccine.
As we can see over the last few years, Pfizer’s vaccine (and Moderna), with messenger RNA technology, has proved to be more effective in neutralizing the virus, making this immunizer the predominant one in several countries. China, on the other hand, because of the “necessary” propaganda for the party, decided not to buy mRNA vaccines (and try to develop its own).
chaotic situation
The lack of efficient vaccination in the population caused a chaotic situation to be established in the country. At the moment, nearly a third of Beijing’s population (22 million) is suspected of having the coronavirus. Chaos begins to spread in the same proportion of virus contamination.
Truck drivers are unable to carry loads and supplies from one place to another, food is not arriving at supermarkets and the population, starting to despair, accumulates the maximum amount of non-perishable products.
In addition to fears that the virus will spread further, the Chinese Communist Party is also dealing with the hypothesis that the high volume of contamination and possible indiscriminate use of unrelated drugs generate a new cycle of mutations in the virus, which could result in a more aggressive variant than omicron.
Of course, this is a future problem, and it is difficult for the Chinese government to deal with eventualities when current problems are damaging people’s perception of the party at an accelerated rate.
Thus, the coming weeks will be critical in relation to the strategy adopted to contain this overwhelming advance of Covid-19. We cannot exclude the possibility of a return to the zero Covid policy in order to gain time to accelerate the vaccination process for the elderly and, who knows, produce the mRNA vaccine itself.
With a wealth of experience honed over 4+ years in journalism, I bring a seasoned voice to the world of news. Currently, I work as a freelance writer and editor, always seeking new opportunities to tell compelling stories in the field of world news.
