Chinese Official Says US Should Lift Travel Ban After 'Mutually Recognizing' Vaccines

A member of the U.S. Armed Forces administers a dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine at a FEMA community vaccination center on March 2, 2021 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Tuesday, 02 March 2021 

A top Chinese medical official urged President Joe Biden to lift the country's travel ban once the two nations "mutually recognize" vaccinations, and after the U.S. reaches "herd immunity."

In using the term "recognize" with the state-run Global Times, it remained unclear if Wu Zunyon, an epidemiologist at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, meant the U.S. would consider a person inoculated with a Chinese vaccine, or if he sought approval of his country's vaccines by the Food and Drug Administration.

China has approved two coronavirus vaccines, per Breitbart.

The first vaccine, known as "Coronavac," was found to be only 50.38 percent effective in clinical trials — a percentage considered "good enough" by the Times. That shot is manufactured by Sinovac.

The second vaccine, by the pharmaceutical company Sinopharm, was found to be 72.51 percent effective. It received Chinese approval late last month.

In comparison, vaccines by Pfizer-BioNTech (about 95 percent) and Moderna (94.1 percent) showed much more effectiveness in combating COVID-19.

A third vaccine, a single-dose Johnson & Johnson inoculation, was found to be 66 percent effective. It received emergency use approval this past weekend by the FDA.

China has secured at least 100 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine despite Communist state media having repeatedly criticized the drug.

While speaking at a forum, Wu claimed, "China is the safest country in the world in terms of COVID-19 prevention" based on Chinese Communist party statistics.

Still, he told the Times China and the U.S. should "mutually recognize vaccinations in the other country and limit free travel to only those who have been vaccinated."

The Times said Wu predicted "herd immunity" would occur in the U.S. in August or September. 

Chinese citizens currently are subject to extreme travel restrictions both at home and abroad.

Former President Donald Trump placed strict limitations on travel between the U.S. and China in January, 2020, shortly after news began circulating of a contagious respiratory disease in Wuhan, China.

President Joe Biden opposed the ban, calling it "hysterical xenophobia."