Vaccines and Their Limits
The two countries outside the Arabian Gulf to have vaccinated most swiftly are Chile and Israel. At first glance their divergence is hard to explain. Israel has brought Covid impressively under control, while Chile has been forced to postpone elections scheduled for this weekend:
This may not be as worrying as it first appears. This is from Andrew Brigden of Fathom Financial Consulting:
Chile began reopening its economy late last year, and until recently there were very few restrictions on movement, with international travel permitted, and schools, restaurants and non-essential shops allowed to open. It appears that the authorities were relying on the vaccine alone to prevent transmission, even though it takes time for immunity to build. There are also doubts regarding the efficacy of the Chinese Sinovac vaccine, which accounts for the vast majority of doses administered in that country. Back in January, researchers in Brazil found that it was only 50% effective in preventing symptomatic infection. The situation in Chile needs monitoring, but for now we take the view that the pick-up in cases, to a level well below the peaks seen around the turn of the year in Israel, the UK or the US, is unlikely to signify the emergence of a new, vaccine-avoiding strain. Instead, it is probably the consequence of a country seeking to return to normal too quickly, protected largely by a vaccine that barely meets the efficacy requirements of the WHO.
No comments:
Post a Comment