A top Chinese propagandist is casting doubt on the effectiveness of the American-made Pfizer vaccine for the coronavirus.
"My question is: Can Pfizer vaccine really be trusted?" tweeted Hu Xijin, CCP propagandist and editor in chief of the state-owned Global Times, on Wednesday.
Hu's questioning of the vaccine's safety comes as the United States is on the verge of approving several vaccines for the coronavirus, including one made by Pfizer, an American pharmaceutical company. Pfizer’s vaccine is said to be 95 percent effective in preventing sickness from the coronavirus. Food and Drug Administration officials will meet Thursday and decide whether to authorize the vaccine, which could be available in the United States as early as next week.
Chinese propagandists are also working to resurrect false narratives about the origins of the coronavirus. Regime officials have pushed unsubstantiated allegations that the virus could have entered Wuhan through frozen-food imports.
"If cold-chain is possible now, Wuhan being framed by virus can’t be ruled out," wrote Zha Liyou, a Chinese diplomat. Zha also peddled the false theory that the coronavirus originated from the American military.
China’s attempt to sow mistrust in the vaccine mirrors attempts made by some Democrats to do the same. In September, Vice President-elect Kamala Harris (D., Calif.) told reporters that she would not trust a Trump vaccine.
"I would not trust Donald Trump, and it would have to be a credible source of information that talks about the efficacy and the reliability of whatever he’s talking about," Harris said in an interview with CNN’s State of the Union. "I will not take his word for it."
The Pfizer vaccine is likely to be distributed in the United States in the coming weeks, during the final month of the Trump administration. The vaccine is one of four developed using federal funding from Operation Warp Speed, an initiative authorized by the Trump administration.