Pandemics and Epidemiology (COVID-19, monkeypox, etc.)

This ironically gives them too much credit.

They're not maintaining their power by rejecting foreign vaccines. Changing course now would hurt their legitimacy to some degree but CCP rule would not be significantly threatened by accepting foreign vaccines. Nationalism is a strong force in Chinese politics but that doesn't mean they'll just collapse over something this minor.

No, this is purely nationalistic stupidity that is putting internal prestige over long term economic and health prospects of their nation. It's far more senseless then an attempt to defend power.

Edited by Fourthspartan56 on Jan 6th 2023 at 4:07:14 AM

Or, you know, the West could just give it to them. This is not the time to stick it to the CCP.

More people getting vaccines is always a good thing but this situation is one where the West has some excuse, when it's a matter of "national pride" something as sensible as just giving vaccines isn't going to be acceptable. Making it a gift would cause the CCP to reject it out of principle.

That said we shouldn't give the West an out in-general, there's a hell of a lot more Western governments could be doing to help other countries vaccinate their people. Vaccine inequality is obscene.

The US has repeatedly offered to give China vaccines. Even suggested doing it indirectly to avoid matters of political pride. China keeps saying no.

China can also make the better vaccines, but regulatory bodies in Beijing haven't given the okay.

The manufacturing processes for the viral vector vaccines (Astra Zeneca, Johnson and Johnson, and Sputnik V) are relatively easy to set up, making them the vaccine of choice for developing countries. In contrast, the mRNA vaccines (Pfizer and Moderna) are much harder to copy.

Edited by minseok42 on Jan 6th 2023 at 5:13:54 AM

Called it.

What the fuck?

Says right there in the quoted passage: a Chinese biotech company licenced the Pfizer vaccine for domestic production and the Chinese government declined to approve it because it's, well, still the Pfizer vaccine and not a Chinese-developed one.

They probably don't have the actual capability to produce it yet, though, because mRNA vaccines are still a new tech and you don't want to put your company in debt trying to set up a production line without the approval to sell the final product.

One of the more annoying things about this pandemic is worrying over every damn symptom.

Cough? Get a rapid test.

Fever? Get a rapid test.

Runny nose? Get a rapid test.

Sore throat? Get a rapid test.

Diarrhea? Get a rapid test.

And for those us with long-term health conditions that regularly manifest as those symptoms, it's been a lot of fun!

So I had a talk with my coworker about the COVID and flu vaccines the other day and it went better than I thought it would. Before the convo, she told me previously that she never gotten the COVID vaccine and she gotten COVID twice. At first I assumed she was an anti vaxxer and just ended the convo without escalating it.

A few days ago when I mentioned I was gonna get the updated booster for the new COVID variant, she tells me that she never got the vaccine because she feels it doesn't work based on people she knew (myself included) who gotten COVID after being vaxxed and boosted. I explained to her that the vaccine isn't going to 100% block the virus, but it'll make you suffer less than you would have without the vaccine. When I also brought up that I'm taking the vaccine because I don't want to expose my parents to COVID, she understood my decision.

Now I'm not saying every anti vaxxer are people who are just misunderstood, but I think some people like my coworker have this misconception that vaccines are All or Nothing; either they prevent the illness or it just fails. I think comparing vaccines to bulletproof vests might get some people to understand it better where the vest/vaccine doesn't fully prevent what they're designed to do, but they'll let get back on your feet far sooner than it would if you decide to let "nature take its course". No one likes getting sick, but there should be more appeal behind being sick for only a few days and bouncing back than to be crippled for a week or more. Especially in the U.S. where sick time is a luxury not everyone has.

You're right, and it's a bigger problem than people are willing to admit sometimes. It's the old problem of having a very vocal minority that purports to speak on behalf of a much larger group that are much more ambivalent about vaccines.

Rather than bulletproof vests I think the more easily understood comparison would be seatbelts. While in rare instances a seatbelt can stop any injury from a crash, by and large you put a seatbelt on so that you survive a crash lightly injured rather than ending up dead.

That's definitely a better example

China's starting to crack down on social media accounts in the mainland that criticize China being... not that open on what happened after the COVID-19 restrictions were lifted.

Now I'm not saying every anti vaxxer are people who are just misunderstood, but I think some people like my coworker have this misconception that vaccines are All or Nothing; either they prevent the illness or it just fails.

The crazy thing is that the COVID vaccine is basically a miracle of science even by vaccine standards. It has a much higher rate of effectiveness and a much lower degree of side effects than basically every other major vaccine.

IO just realized it's probably the smallpox vaccine that is to blame for this misunderstanding. The smallpox vaccine gives you a lighter version of smallpox, after which you will have a life-long immunity against the pox. This is generally used as the standard example of vaccination, in part because it was the first major breakthrough in vaccines.

China suspended visas for South Koreans going to China. Apparently in retaliation for requiring Chinese nationals to do COVID tests.

Thailand OTOH is wishy washy on this, though most of their industries rely somewhat on Chinese tourism.

https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2023/01/f3ca2d42f369-urgent-china-suspends-visa-issuance-to-japanese-travelers-industry-sources.html

Never mind. China suspends visas for Japanese nationals too.

Edited by Ominae on Jan 10th 2023 at 2:31:07 AM

Yup, China go back to using their old playbook at the start of this pandemic. They have also been pressuring various Southeast Asia countries, including mine, to ignore the pandemic and treat them like it's never there or has been solved just like what they are doing when the pandemic began. So, they can go zero-tolerance on covid's asses and even mock countries that don't do the same as weak, but other countries can't do it, especially if it affects them.

Rules for them, but not for me is how the westerners are calling it, right? Chinese government's arrogance has seriously gone through the roof.

I know that Philippine health officials are raising the alarm to introduce strict measures for mainland Chinese because of the rise of COVID case there.

I thought China just dropped all travel advisories?

They did, but they're limiting it still to the reasons they can travel last I heard.

They're just accusing any countries introducing new measures for Chinese nationals to show proof of negative infections of politicizing the issue if and when they fly out.

They just banned Japanese/South Koreans from going to China. Which is plain dumb.

Edited by Ominae on Jan 10th 2023 at 5:22:17 AM

Lynette Hardaway, Diamond of pro-Trump duo 'Diamond and Silk,' has died at 51 of almost certainly a known hoax and not a serious thing called Covid-19.

Was it confirmed she died of COVID or is this just speculation?

So far it seems to be of Covid.

https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2023/01/7b8451ae04b8-tokyo-protests-chinas-suspension-of-visa-issuance-to-japanese.html

Tokyo is calling out Beijing for resorting to visa suspensions of Japanese nationals just because Chinese nationals going to Japan need to have proof of being negative for COVID.