Behind the Surge of COVID-Deaths in China: Have China-made Vaccines Played a Role?

(Minghui.org) There are many unanswered questions about the sudden surge in COVID infections and deaths in China after the communist regime ended its three-year-long zero-Covid policy on December 7, 2022. Based on the COVID testing of China arrivals, many countries detected BA.5, BF.7, and XBB variants. These are all Omicron strains that have already existed outside China. Other countries, however, did not experience such a surge after they relaxed lockdown measures and learned to live with the virus. So why is this new wave so devastating in China?

According to insiders, COVID infections had already spiraled out of control before the zero-COVID policy was ended. The sudden opening up could be a contributing factor to the surging cases and there are likely other causes as well, including the vaccines.

Chinese authorities claimed that China-made vaccines were 70% effective against symptomatic infections. But is this true? Could China’s domestic vaccines have contributed to the current COVID tsunami in the country? While more research is needed to answer that question, we’d like to share some observations.

Surge in Cases Already Seen in Some Countries That Used China-made Vaccines

Sinovac and Sinopharm, two Chinese vaccine manufacturers, have supplied COVID vaccines to China and dozens of other countries (such as Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, and the Philippines), especially poor countries, according to a July 2021 BBC article titled “Covid: What do we know about China's coronavirus vaccines?”

The vaccines produced by Sinovac and Sinopharm are inactivated viruses that trigger the production of antibodies in the human body. According to WHO, there were not enough participants 60 and over enrolled in the clinical trials of these vaccines.

Some of the countries that used China-made COVID vaccines saw a surge in infections after their inhabitants were inoculated. According to the BBC article: “For instance, Chile re-imposed a curfew and brought back restrictions on traveling in response to the Delta variant, which is more transmissible than previous variants. The Seychelles and Mongolia, meanwhile, have recently recorded some of the highest increase in cases per capita, despite their small populations.” In Indonesia, a doctors and nurses’ association said that at least 30 healthcare workers died despite having received two doses of the Sinovac vaccine.

ADE Effects

Since the pandemic started in 2020, the Chinese regime has avoided discussing antibody-dependent infection enhancement (ADE). ADE happens when antibodies produced by the body bind to the invading virus but are unable to neutralize it. Acting as a “Trojan horse,” the antibodies help the virus to attack more cells, making the situation worse.

“COVID-19 patients could not only produce antibodies against the RBD of the spike protein to block SARS-CoV-2 infection, but also produce anti-spike antibodies that enhance ACE2 binding, consequently enhancing the infectivity of SARS-CoV-2. This supports the existence of ADE in SARS-CoV-2 infections,” according to a group of Chinese scientists in a paper published in Vaccine in November 2022. The paper was titled “The resurgence risk of COVID-19 in China in the presence of immunity waning and ADE: A mathematical modeling study.”

Unlike other vaccine manufacturers, Sinovac and Sinopharm, as well as the authorities, seldom make such ADE information available to the public. Instead, officials covered up deaths and retaliated against victims’ families who dared to seek justice.

Deaths after Receiving China-made Vaccines

Numerous deaths had been reported after people received China-made vaccines. China is one of the main trade and economic partners of Kyrgyzstan. Bakhtiyar Shakirov, 39-year-old Deputy Director of the Consular Service Department in Kyrgyzstan, died on April 1, 2021, after receiving a China-made vaccine.

In Pakistan, about two weeks after receiving a China-made vaccine, police superintendent Malik Imtiaz Mahmood fell and died on June 13, 2021, according to a video shown by local media The Namal.

The number of infections and deaths in Chile also remained high, reported Aljazeera in a March 2021 article titled “Chile: Alarming rise in COVID cases despite vaccination efforts.” Nearly four million doses of Sinovac Vaccine were given the month earlier.

According to Aljazeera, more than 21,000 people have died in Chile with more than 900,000 infected. “People over 70, most of whom have already been vaccinated, have almost disappeared from our emergency rooms,” said Dr. Sebastian Ugarte. “Now, we have younger patients, but some are gravely ill.”

China: Restricting Information on Sudden Deaths

Many high-ranking officials in China and their family members got imported vaccines instead of China-made vaccines. But ordinary citizens had no choice but to get the domestic vaccines. In the meantime, officials continued to restrict information on the possible deadly side effects of the vaccines and threatened anyone who dared to publicize the information.

A short video in 2022 showed that one Chinese resident died at the vaccination site. In late March 2022, Sound of Hope received information from Dalian City, Liaoning Province, that Wang Dajun, 43, from Lingxi Village died the day after getting vaccinated. His family was threatened when they went to the local government to seek justice. A netizen posted on Twitter on March 27, 2022, that a Beijing Sany Heavy Industry Workshop employee died on March 23, 2022, two days after being given the Sinovac vaccine.

There were many more incidents of this kind. One netzien reported that a local resident died two days after getting vaccinated at Tianjin First Hospital. Another netizen with the hashtag “Shanxia Huayezi” shared the story of her brother, a 28-year-old soldier with no history of illness. After getting a Sinopharm vaccination at Binhe Avenue Maternal and Child Social Health Center in Shenzhen City, Guangdong Province, he died on April 15, 2022.

On April 16, 2022, a college student said that another student was rushed to the emergency room right after she got vaccinated. Nanjing Internet Police Patrol and Law Enforcement in Jiangsu Province posted on the social media platform Weibo on April 20 that local resident Pan was detained for seven days after posting information on a short video platform commenting on the deaths caused by vaccination.