Just when we thought we were finally turning the page on COVID-19, with many more people vaccinated, the global economy gradually rebounding, and supply chains improving, now the country that brought us coronavirus, which never was able to contain its spread in the first place, is set to export the virulent disease again to the world.
While the rest of the world has virtually reopened for business, China continued to grapple with the coronavirus. Amid protests against its “zero COVID regimes,” China recently began dismantling its stringent measures; unfortunately, this is happening at a considerable cost and the expense of the rest of the world.
When a country as big as China fails to bridle the spread of disease, the rest of the world suffers. Such will happen if the world fails to deal with her “China problem.”
The record speaks for itself.
According to a U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price in his statement earlier this week, said: “the toll of the virus is of concern to the rest of the world given the size of China’s GDP, given the size of China’s economy, we don’t want to see death or disease spread anywhere.” In other words, China’s failure to curb the spread of coronavirus is “a threat to people everywhere.”
But what is the world going to do about it?
First and foremost, China should realize that it puts the world in peril of another human despoilation for its recklessness and refusal to take all necessary coronavirus measures within its borders, including not accepting and deploying effective vaccines. Its extensive legacy of dereliction regarding COVID-19 has established that it cannot be trusted as a global partner in curbing diseases and other global health emergencies.
Otherwise, how do we explain its rejection of life-saving western vaccination, such as the mRNA vaccine, which has proven to be the most effective in preventing severe illness? Does it make sense to put national pride over human life? Yet, the country continues to rely on its own vaccine, which has proven ineffective and useless. China must know or should have known that its CoronaVac, made by Beijing-based biopharmaceutical company Sinovac could not withstand the “Delta variant.”
Although hastily approved by the World Health Organization (WHO) for emergency use, the CoronaVAc vaccine has proven to be impuissant and weak as it fails to prevent serious illness resulting from the constantly changing SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19.
Other vaccines, such as AstraZeneca, Moderna, or Pfizer, showed more resilience. Thus, China’s continued deployment of CoronaVac against all other effective ones raised more questions than answers.
The U.S. director of national intelligence, Avril Haines, recently chided that China seemed “unwilling to take a better vaccine from the west, and is instead relying on a vaccine in China that’s just not nearly as effective against Omicron.”
The question then is why? What is China’s motive in declining other vaccines while its people and economy continue to regress?
The damage caused by the heedlessness of the Chinese government in the past to constrain Omicron and its determination to transfer its suffering to the rest of the world again should make the world ask, “what is China up to?” we must not be complacent or apathetic to this new threat. While China, with a population of 1.4 billion, almost the size of the entire continent of Africa, may have bodies to sacrifice, the rest of the world don’t.
While China continues to use its inferior vaccines, the headlines coming out of the country have been troubling. Reuters: “China’s Shanghai hospital warns of “tragic battle” with COVID-19 as it expects half of the city’s 25 million people will get infected by the end of next week, while the virus sweeps through the country largely unchecked.” The Guardian: “China is on the brink of its first major covid surge.” Bloomberg: “China is likely Seeing 1 million Covid Cases, 5000 deaths a day.” BBC: “Coronavirus: China’s hospitals seem to be filling up-WHO.” The Washington Post: China’s new covid nightmare could become a global catastrophe.” On and on, the reports continued. From Guangzhou, Chongqing to Shanghai, the virus eats into the country’s fabric, painting a frightening and distressing picture.
All the world could do was watch as Xi’ Jinping’s wrong-headed policies plunged the country into a continued health and economic tailspin.
Now, this. According to Reuters, China’s foreign ministry stated that the country would begin implementing and provide more convenience for cross-boarders travelers.
Really? Why now?
After three years of closing its borders to prevent the world from supposedly bringing back Covid-19, which China manufactured and exported, China is suddenly opening its borders for its people to start traveling. At a time when the world is getting a sense of normalcy after winning the battle against Covid-19 without China’s help, China, which failed to curtail the virulent disease it created, now urges its sick and infected citizens to start traveling across borders.
Again I ask, why? Is China on a mission to infect the world again? Why lift restrictions and ease travel when the disease continues to rage, spreading uncontrollably?
And now, winter is here.
Undoubtedly, China’s dangerous gambit in refusing to cooperate with global health experts, accept functional and efficient vaccines, and yet willingly and merrily ready to export the virus by announcing intra- and external travel is nothing more than a vandalism of global health and peace and a danger to the world. Unfortunately, this vexing and perverse move not only exposes the sinister and evil in China’s government policies but also builds an ominous dark cloud as we are about to plow through a long winter.
The only decisive response is that China must be sequestered and its people kept within its borders until it accepts usable and effective vaccines. If the world fails to do this, I am afraid we will have a long horrid winter, and the effect could be dire, resuscitating the dark days of 2020 and 2021.
Email: JlaBode74@gmail.com
Twitter: @Obanor
