Announcement of Chinese cancer-prevention vaccine is met by resistance; residents say they will not be ‘guinea Pigs’

Residents are not reacting well to the possibility that a cancer-
prevention vaccine manufactured by China could be made available
in Antigua and Barbuda.

This announcement, coming from Minister of Health Sir Molwyn
Joseph, appears to tie in with a Memorandum of Understanding
(MoU) signed between the two countries, in China, last week.

Specifically, the Antigua and Barbuda delegation to China – which
included Sir Molwyn – has inked an agreement “with Alibaba Damo
Academy and Hospitals for the provision of equipment for early
cancer screening and digital health… .”

Two weeks ago, during Cervical Cancer Awareness Month, Joseph
had made a case for local girls to be vaccinated against HPV – a
sexually transmitted virus that can cause cervical cancer.

He said, then, that an aggressive application of the antiviral drug,
along with screening and treatment, could eliminate the disease
locally within four years.

Now, he says that “Antigua and Barbuda could become the first
country in the Caribbean to offer a cancer-prevention vaccine,” and
this country could “have the opportunity to be first in line for that
technology.”

In response, several residents have expressed the fear that locals
could be used as “human guinea pigs” – or test subjects – for the
Chinese-made vaccine, and they have vowed to resist any effort by
the Browne Administration to introduce it.

Harking back to the Government’s mandate, in 2021, that all public-
sector employees should be vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus
or lose their jobs, some workers are saying, now, that they would
rather be sent home than take the chance with the latest Chinese
drug.

One woman reminds REAL News that Sinopharm, the Chinese drug,
was the vaccine least embraced by Antiguans and Barbudans during
the pandemic, as its efficacy was deemed to be lower than the US-
and UK-made options.