Sit down for this one, but China's Sinopharm vaccine doesn't appear to work very well

Well, look at this. . .

From CNBC:

The Seychelles is the most vaccinated nation on Earth. But Covid has surged https://t.co/BdvPsvVcx1

— CNBC International (@CNBCi) May 13, 2021

The majority of vaccines give were China’s Sinopharm:

The majority of vaccinated people have received China’s Sinopharm vaccine (approved for emergency use by the WHO last Friday) as well as the AstraZeneca shot (known as Covishield locally, a version produced in India). In total, the Seychelles with a population of over 97,000 has recorded just under 8,200 cases and 28 deaths during the pandemic.

Bloomberg’s Noah Smith writes, “I am concerned about the efficacy of this vaccine”:

Here is Seychelles' COVID outbreak compared to India's.

37% of infected people have received both doses of China's Sinopharm vaccine.https://t.co/8fuDnuNqX5

I am concerned about the efficacy of this vaccine. pic.twitter.com/fi8CHn06YU

— Noah Smith 🐇 (@Noahpinion) May 17, 2021

You. Don’t. Say:

Here are daily deaths per million in Seychelles, compared to India.

Also quite worrying. pic.twitter.com/Py0NXVl58P

— Noah Smith 🐇 (@Noahpinion) May 17, 2021

Sinopharm is failing in Bahrain, too:

Here is Bahrain, also heavily vaccinated with Sinopharm. (56.5% with first doses) pic.twitter.com/ZxMrpVyYwr

— Noah Smith 🐇 (@Noahpinion) May 18, 2021

It’s “better than nothing” is not exactly a ringing endorsement:

I mean, it still seems like Sinopharm is better than nothing, but remember that this is a vaccine that we never really got solid data on to begin with.https://t.co/EvUIcc8oqm

— Noah Smith 🐇 (@Noahpinion) May 18, 2021

Thank you, President Trump!

The upshot here is that exporting the U.S.' high-efficacy vaccines is probably even more important than we thought it was, in order to end the global pandemic quickly and decisively.

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— Noah Smith 🐇 (@Noahpinion) May 18, 2021

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