Chinese citizens pushing each other at centres to get COVID vaccines, video goes viral

China, from where the COVID-19 disease originated, has long been claiming to have successfully managed to bring the Coronavirus crisis under control, even as the world struggles to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, with the economies and health infrastructures of several countries overwhelmed by the spread of the deadly virus.

However, several videos of alleged vaccination drives in China are doing the rounds on social media, showing the medical apathy in conducting the vaccination drives in the country as against the tall claims made by the ruling Chinese communist party. The videos (claimed to be of vaccination drives in China) show the Chinese citizens in insanely long queues for vaccination while some videos depict complete chaos as people pushing each other amid the crowd to get access to the vaccines for COVID-19. South China Morning Post has reported that "tens of thousands of residents of the south China city of Guangzhou flocked to get their COVID-19 jabs, as authorities reported four new infections in the past week. 

Videos of citizens in China scrambling for COVID vaccine:

Fresh COVID-19 surge in China

According to Chinese media reports, there has been a fresh surge in COVID-19 infections in the country, especially in Guangzhou. Global Times, state-backed Chinese media, reported that there have been fresh 'stay-at-home' restrictions imposed in the region in view of the surge and the residents have been asked to stop all activities that are not necessary for daily life.

According to a statement published by the Guangzhou government in South China's Guangdong Province, residents in five streets in the Liwan district have been asked to stay at home, and only one person of each household is allowed to buy life necessities every day. In what seems to be like a lockdown, all entertainment venues, indoor sports venues, wholesale markets and childcare institutions have been asked to remain shut due to the virus surge. Big celebrations and gatherings are not allowed.

Doubts over efficacy of Chinese vaccines

Radio Free Asia (RFA) has reported the residents crowding and scrambling for getting vaccinated. "After the Liwan District Government of Guangzhou required all residents to undergo nucleic acid testing, there was a flood of people fighting for the vaccine at the local vaccination site," RFA reported. Moreover, it further went on to state that "people were worried about the insufficient protection of domestic vaccines". Questions have also been raised about the efficacy of the Chinese vaccines as Seychelles which remains the world's most vaccinated country with Chinese vaccines has reported a surge in COVID-19 infections among the fully vaccinated citizens. The United Arab Emirates and Bahrain which also jabbed their population with the Chinese vaccine are now mulling a third dose owing to the inefficiency of the first two doses. According to reports, experts are suggesting a different vaccine than procuring the Chinese vaccine for the third dose.

Pressure mounts on China for COVID origins

Due to China's hesitancy and delay in granting permission to the probe even after immense international pressure, the team of WHO experts visited China in mid-January this year, even as the virus began causing havoc in late 2019. China has maintained that the virus originated elsewhere while it was first detected in Wuhan (an argument rejected by the world) and it even refused to hand over key data to the WHO team investigating the origins of COVID-19, potentially complicating efforts to understand how the global pandemic began. WHO Chief Tedros Ghebreyesus said his team suffered rejections from China in accessing "raw data on early COVID-19 cases" while adding that more "collaborative studies" are required with "more timely and comprehensive data sharing". Pressure has been mounting on China from the scientific community as well as other quarters from the international fora for a thorough and transparent probe on the origins of the virus. Several leading scientific experts have claimed that the COVID-19 was a man-made lab-leaked virus from China's Wuhan Institute of Virology while China remains in denial pushing forward its "virus was naturally occurring phenomenon" theory.