Vaccine Denialism: How Culture Affects Policy and Practice in China
by Lao Wai Ren, contributor living in China
China is a place of opulence, hyper-modernity, and contrasts. Since 1980 to the present, China has seen more economic growth than ever recorded. In the last decade alone, their economy has doubled. There are more billionaires in China than in the United States. China imports more petroleum than any other country. There are more than 50 cities with a population of at least 1 million people, and in the mega-sized metropolitan areas – Shanghai, Beijing, and Shenzhen – each has over 20 million residents. Super cities and villages alike are connected by modern airports and a high-speed rail system where trains typically go 150 mph. And despite popular ideals about traditional Chinese medicine – which is still practiced – China is all-pro vaccine, all the time.
For example, the national government granted approval to Merck to sell Gardasil in China in 2017. Similarly, officials at the FDA think so highly of Chinese scientists and manufacturing in May 2019, they approved a Chinese corporation to test a Hepatitis E vaccine in the United States. The vaccine, sold under the trade name Hercolin, has been used in China since 2012. In August 2019, the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) approved the shingles vaccine, Shingrix by GSK, for sale in China. This vaccine is to prevent shingles outbreaks in adults over 50 years. With China’s massively aging population, this will be a goldmine for GSK.
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