The corona vaccine means power for every government

Dhe Bahraini Crown Prince Sheikh Salman bin Hamad was one of the first in September to have the vaccine from the Chinese supplier Sinopharm injected into his upper arm. The head of government of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, followed suit in November. They did so even though Sinopharm has to date not released any data on the effectiveness of its vaccine against the coronavirus. The Emirates were also the first state outside of China to allow the vaccine for emergency use by its own medical staff and government officials in mid-September.

For China’s vaccine diplomacy, it was an important achievement in the Gulf. Chinese vaccine manufacturers have signed clinical trial agreements with at least 15 countries on five continents. In return, they provide the vaccine after approval. Originally this was done out of necessity. Because there are no longer enough people infected with corona in China, the companies were forced to move the third phase of their tests abroad. But Beijing took advantage of it. The participation of research institutes in the respective countries gives the vaccines the political support that a preparation tested in China alone would hardly have had.

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