This Friday 25th, the Prime Minister of Italy, Mario Draghi, stated that the “Chinese vaccine” used in Chile is not suitable to combat the pandemic, in reference to CoronaVac.
According to the agency Handle, the statement was made during a press conference in Brussels, Belgium, after two days of meetings between the leaders of the 27 Member States of the European Union.
“We discussed the various types of vaccines, and the conclusion was that the Russian Sputnik vaccine has not yet achieved, and perhaps will never achieve, approval from the European Medicines Agency (EMA); and the Chinese vaccine, which was never requested and which, in any case, the EMA never approved, shows that it is not suitable, considering the experience in Chile, to face the epidemic”, said Draghi.
The Italian Prime Minister did not explicitly mention Coronavac, but this is the vaccine most used by the Chilean government to contain the Covid-19 pandemic. According to the Our World in Data portal, of the 21,7 million doses applied in the South American country until June 22, 17 million were of the Sinovac vaccine (78,3%), which is approved by the World Health Organization. (WHO) for emergency use.
The South American country has accumulated around 31,8 deaths in the pandemic, with a mortality rate of 167,8 deaths for every 100 inhabitants, according to Johns Hopkins University; Italy has almost 127,4 thousand victims, with a mortality rate of 211,2 deaths for every 100 thousand inhabitants. Chile had 51 deaths last Thursday (24), while Italy recorded 28.
According to the Chilean government, 65,25% of the population is already fully vaccinated; while in the European country this rate is 28,5%.
Italy uses four vaccines in its immunization program against Covid-19, all from Western laboratories: AstraZeneca (United Kingdom/Sweden), Biontech/Pfizer (Germany/USA), Moderna (USA) and Janssen (Belgium), which belongs to the American multinational Johnson & Johnson.
Coronavac is effective, says Butantan after speech by Italian prime minister
Through a note sent to ANSA, the Butantan Institute says that Coronavac is “safe and effective, recommended for individuals over 18 years of age with the aim of preventing the worsening of infections by the new coronavirus”.
“In Chile, after vaccination, there was a relaxation of measures restricting the movement of people, unlike what happened in other countries, such as England, which postponed the relaxations that were planned. The vaccine does not represent a 'barrier' to infection, and it is therefore essential to maintain non-pharmacological prevention protocols, such as social distancing, use of masks and hygiene”, states Butantan.
According to the institute, the “reports made available by the Chilean Ministry of Health clearly prove the importance of the vaccine, since the new cases that are emerging in the country are mainly among unvaccinated people or people who have not completed the vaccination schedule”.
With information from Ansa
FOLLOW ITALIANISM
