Coronavirus: France’s Emmanuel Macron warns of Chinese vaccine risks
- The French president cited the lack of information about the shots, saying they might even encourage the development of Covid-19 variants
- Macron conceded that Beijing’s ‘diplomatic successes’ in distributing vaccines to other countries could be seen as ‘humiliating’ for Western leaders
French President Emmanuel Macron warned Thursday about the lack of information about China’s coronavirus vaccines, saying they might even encourage the development of variants if they are not effective.
Speaking to the Atlantic Council think-tank, Macron conceded that China’s early “diplomatic successes” in distributing vaccines to other countries could be seen as “a little bit humiliating for us as (Western) leaders”.
But he warned that the efficacy of a jab from Sinopharma or Sinovac was unknown because “absolutely no information” has been shared about trials.
“What it means is that in the medium to long run it is almost sure that if this vaccine is not appropriate it will facilitate the emergence of new variants, it will absolutely not fix the situation of these countries,” he said.
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His comment came a day after European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen also urged Russia and China to “show all the data” if they want their vaccines to be approved in the European Union.
Last Friday, Macron also cast doubt on a vaccine produced by British-Swedish group AztraZeneca, saying it appeared not to be effective for people over 65 years of age – despite European regulators approving it for adults of all ages.