A few weeks ago I was on a call to a Chinese friend who informed me that China had a vaccine that would probably be ready by October and that “important” people such as the military and medical staff were already receiving it. I took said information with a very large grain of salt, but according to an article in the New Yorker, it seems to be true.
What about the Russian vaccine?
Of course, Russia also announced a few months ago that they had a vaccine, but if you know anything about vaccine trials (which we all probably do by now), they need to go through 3 phases, Russia essentially skipped phrase 3 and well not much has been heard from them since….
What is the Chinese vaccine?
With the pandemic starting in Wuhan, China had what you might call a head start as the rest of the world largely dug their heads in the sand and hoped everything would just stay in Asia. China on the other hand offered a blank check to the largest state-owned vaccine producer, C.N.B.G (they produce 80% of Chinese vaccines) and they started trying to find a cure.
Phase 1 went well, as did phase 2 and now they find themselves at the end of phase 3, which seemingly is going well….
How are they testing the vaccine?
Leading communist party officials have been getting immunized since around June, but for a fully effective set of testing China had one major problem, there was hardly any Covid-19 in China anymore. Ironic considering the amount of China bashing that occurred when China first introduced their lockdown.
China thus found 50,000+ recruits in countries as far afield as the UAE and Peru. Phase 3 duly rocked on.
How do you do take the vaccine?
You take it once and then another one 28 days later (no irony about the film 28 days later), with there apparently not being any major side affects other than you not being able to eat spicy food, or drink booze on the days you get injected, something even the most curry loving of alcoholics should be able to manage for 2 days.
How long does the coronavirus vaccine last for?
Officially they are saying 6 months, although this is largely where the whole phase 3 of trials bit comes in to play, but it is hoped that it would end up being a kind of once a year type thing.
When can I get the coronavirus vaccine?
Sadly because of the politics of coronavirus and the major dick swinging between the big powers it will depend massively on where you live. America are still claiming they will have a vaccine soon, no doubt timed conveniently for the reelection of Donald Trump, the UK keep saying they’re “close” and Russia, well they think they have already cured it.
So, whilst this is very interesting and indeed promising, don’t throw out your face masks and start booking flights just yet. Do though continue being one of those assholes that buys up every piece of toilet paper in the store.
To kinda quote Churchill, “this is not the end, this is not the beginning of the end, but maybe it might be the beginning of the beginning of the end”
To read the full article in the New Yorker click here.
