[deanhills]

I confess that I've never understood that attitude from them. Countries that don't produce COVID-19 vaccines should not be that picky as to which one to use, especially when rich countries are hoarding doses [1], in a sharp contrast to China's attitude.

Locally, the authorities have shifted to China's Sinopharm ever since Oxford-AstraZeneca (first obtained under the WHO COVAX mechanism) started to become harder to get when India was hit hard by the pandemic.

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[1]- The US did exactly that from the start but promised lately to share its stockpile with the rest of the World.

@fChk  I'm not a scientist, but for me there should be some caution in the order of the day when one looks at vaccines that are as far remote as China and Russia.  Those are dictator "closed" countries too, from the point of view that the reports on the efficacy of the vaccines and side effects are strictly under Government control and we don't see open discussion on the side effects. Irony also is that the virus started in China - and to this day its origin (for me anyway) is still shrouded in mystery. WHO being in cahoots with the China Government to cover up complete facts of how it happened.  I most certainly haven't forgotten, and so from an ethical point of view am most certainly not going to support anything from China that is being dumped big time in Africa.  Africa being in the middle of a totally neo-colonialization program by China as well.  I've got a moral objection here as well.

You can check the article below in Medical News Today about SinoPharm and reason why if that is the only choice I get I won't be taking it.  
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/article...de-effects

Most vaccines require at least 3 years of thorough testing before they are released for use by the public, with a long list of protocols and list of questions to ask for probing for potential side effects. I.e. if we take drugs, there are usually detailed info in a pamphlet in very fine print and a list of side-effects given that we have to check and compare so we don't take something that may create a problem for our health. So caution is thrown to the wind with the massive dumping of not fully tested vaccines, which in effect means that the millions of people who get vaccinated are really test cases.  That is what my own common sense tells me.  We have a tower of Babel of vaccines that are in some ways the same, but who are vastly different as well.  The fact that so many different vaccines are being developed, some in competition with one another, tells me the story that if and when I get vaccinated one day, it's by an experimental vaccine. Scientists aren't really completely knowledgeable as to the side effects of the vaccines.  They're taking percentages from somewhere and hoping for the best.  They've barely got experience with the side effects of vaccines of 8 months or even less than that to study.  Surely that is important to note for any individual who has to make a decision about a vaccine.  

Bottom line.  The present array of Covid 19 vaccines are only 65-79% effective. Then you get the confusion surrounding booster shots that are needed, that very few are getting.  I'd imagine the efficacy of the vaccine when no booster shot has been given drops further. So there's a 20-35% chance that the vaccine has not been effective after you took it.  So how do you know whether it's been effective or not? You don't really.  So now this vaccination effort seems to be throwing caution to the wind. Because from what I notice in Canada the Government is now saying that if you have been fully vaccinated, you don't need to go through the same hoops any longer when you enter the country.  You still have to be tested, but you don't have to be incarcerated for 3 days in a Government certified hotel any longer.  How do they allow for being asymptomatic however?  And people who relax their guard after they have been vaccinated?  One of the key dangers in my view being too many people in the same space sharing the air they breathe. Even ventilation can't compensate for heavily populated areas of airports. Traveling to densely populated cities of the world from densely populated cities create that problem.  Long lines, tired, not focusing and concentrating.  I can go on and on. Vaccines being a hit and miss in most cases.  And we haven't even discussed fraud cases yet where people submit illegal certificates of vaccination.

I think every one has to make their own "informed" decision of course.  Who knows, maybe the experimental vaccines are moving in the right direction.  Or maybe not.  I may change my mind in future, particularly when I'm ready to travel to Canada.  But hopefully by then the quality of vaccines would be more improved.  Or one would hope they would be.  As for me we still don't know where this virus is taking us.  There may be new ones waiting to make their appearance.  And there are too many differences among the vaccines.  Like with the malaria mosquito anti-medication.  Every area of the world needs to adapt the basic vaccine to their own communities.  Otherwise the malaria medication won't make a difference.  So many tourists from the US in South Africa have learned that at their own peril.  They may receive "up to date" malaria medication in the US, that is useless when they were in malaria infested areas of Africa. Some of the basics are the same, but only the malaria tablets that have been developed and adapted by scientists in South Africa for the current strain of malaria will work. Uganda is different from South Africa also with a much more serious malaria problem.  You then take the tablets that have been developed for those living in Uganda when you visit Uganda.  Ditto Covid 19.  We've seen in the press how different communities have been developing their own strain of the virus.  We still have a lot to investigate about the virus.

So I hope with Covid 19 vaccines that we will have an open discussion about its efficacy in South Africa.  So we can at least have some basic information about its pros and cons. And scientists have the freedom to test and comment honestly about the pros and cons.  Instead of dumping any vaccine for increased vaccination stats to make the Government look good. The Governments of the world are notorious for mucking things up, particularly when they are trying to get political mileage, and looks like South Africa is no exception in this any longer. I can only imagine the pressure that puts on the Public Health Specialists in still wanting the support from Government but needing to be scientifically honest as well.