China’s growing ‘vaccine diplomacy’… DID T&T PAY US $15 FOR A SINOPHARM VACCINE?

THE Keith Rowley administration is likely to have paid around US $15 for a single Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccine. 

The government bought 800,000 doses from Sinopharm Group Co. Ltd., a state-run Chinese medicinal manufacturer. 

Prime Minister Dr. Rowley has declined to reveal the cost to taxpayers, saying it was protected by a non-disclosure agreement. 

But research has found that the Sinopharm vaccine has been sold at between US $10 a dose, to Bangladesh, and US $15, to Sri Lanka. 

The countries have each bought millions of vaccines. 

Countries which made smaller purchases shelled out up to US $40 a dose. 

Trinidad and Tobago is one of the smallest purchasers of the Sinopharm vaccines. 

AstraZenica vaccines have sold at an average of US 5.50 each, but some countries have accessed a dosage for as low as US $2.15, based on volume purchases. 

Moderna and Pfizer vaccines were sold in the “sub US $20 range per dose,” according to one report. 

Johnson & Johnson’s vaccines cost under US $10 each, it was revealed. 

One of the attractiveness of the Sinopharm vaccine is its easy availability to developing countries, with around 223 million being sold around the world.  

The World Health Organisation (WHO) gave the green light to the Sinopharm vaccine in May 2021. 

T&T has received gifts of other vaccines from the United States, Canada and fellow Caricom countries. 

Russia’s Sputnik V vaccines cost under US $10 each, it was reported, as a result of a deal with the African Union. 

Guyana has bought 400,000 Sputnik V doses at a total cost of US $4 million, according to President Dr. Irfaan Ali. 

Ali ignored a request from the political opposition to suspend the use of the Russian vaccines. 

China has been accused of using “vaccine diplomacy” to pressure vulnerable developing countries to purchase its doses. 

Rowley has denied being coerced by the Chinese authorities. 

Diplomatic sources said, however, that China has been using economic force to cosy up with the Rowley regime. 

The Asian giant targeted Trinidad and Tobago because of its strategic location close to Venezuela and the rest of South America, and other Caribbean countries. 

China also wants to use T&T to pull little St. Kitts-Nevis out of its Taiwanese orbit. 

The tiny Caricom nation (population 55,000) is one of just 15 around the world that has diplomatic relations with Taiwan instead of China. 

Beijing is determined to isolate Taiwan and has been attempting to lure St. Kitts-Nevis into its fold. 

There have been active diplomatic manoeuvres out of Port of Spain to achieve that objective.  

Since the election of the Rowley Government, China has expanded its economic engagement with T&T, and is reportedly interested in a privatised port of Port of Spain and other major infrastructural projects. 

The La Brea Industrial Park is being constructed by China Harbour Engineering Limited, at a cost of US $500 million. 

Several other projects are in the works, such as Phoenix Park Industrial Estate, which is expected to house 10 Chinese firms, among others. 

The Chinese authorities have reportedly pledged to have the shipping line COSCO expand its service to Port of Spain and also utilise the port of Point Lisas. 

The Curepe interchange was constructed by a premier Chinese state firm, as well as Brian Lara Stadium, NAPA, SAPA, Couva Hospital and others. 

China is also said to be interested in securing the mothballed Pointe-a-Pierre oil refinery, with an eye to upgrading certain plants. 

The T&T Government is likely to refinance Petrotrin two major bonds through Chinese financial institutions. 

Trinidad and Tobago received a gift of 200 police bicycles from China in August 2019, and bought buses from that country. 

There is a strong Chinese presence in T&T’s telecommunications sector, through Huawei. 

Telecom experts say that most proprietary and personal data of government officials and other influential nationals are transmitted through Huawei hardware. 

China has been accused of hacking surveillance equipment in certain countries with Huawei-made apparatus, and spying of top officials. 

There is no evidence of Chinese espionage in T&T. 

A foreign affairs expert said the close economic relations with China could leave T&T with a debt burden, such as Sri Lanka with its port of Hambontota, and several African countries. 

The Rowley Government has signed a $1 billion contract with Shanghai Construction to rebuild the 540-bed central block of Port of Spain General Hospital.  

A house construction contract was scrapped, but a Chinese firm could still enter the sector, according to sources.  

In May 2018, T&T became one of the first Caricom countries to join China’s Belt and Road Initiative, through which infrastructural projects are being carried out in more than 70 countries. 

In the midst of the flurry of economic ties, the Rowley administration has purchased the Sinopharm vaccines, with the Prime Minister staying mum on the cost to taxpayers. 

The government has revised procurement legislation to take government-to-government arrangements outside of the ambit of the Procurement Regulator. 

The political opposition has accused the Rowley regime of deliberately watering down the law.