We will let you travel to China, but you must take our vaccine – this is the message from the most recent government announcement.

The new rule takes effect today in China. China is easing visa application requirements for foreigners seeking to enter the mainland from Hong Kong, but only if they have been given a Covid-19 vaccine made in China. This is the first time any nation is requiring that you take a vaccine made in their own country.

For those who agree to take the China-made vaccine, visiting the mainland for work, will face less paperwork in visa applications. China will streamline them to the front of the line. If they carry a vaccine certificate for a Chinese-made vaccine, travelers will not need to have a Covid-19 test or even fill out a travel declaration form.

The announcement comes on the back of a deal with the International Olympic Committee to provide shots made in China for athletes attending the Tokyo Olympics in July and Winter Olympics in Beijing next year, even though most western countries have not yet approved the Chinese made vaccine.

Most nations are suspicious of the Chinese vaccine because Chinese pharmaceutical companies refuse to share crucial data from clinical trials.

Most countries in the West have not yet approved vaccines developed by Chinese pharmaceutical companies, which have been reticent in sharing details of their vaccine trials, crucial for building public trust around the world. China is having more success introducing its vaccines in Africa and Latin America, where countries including Zimbabwe and Equatorial Guinea have received vaccine aid from Beijing.

Brazil has been one of the biggest customers for the China vaccines, even though a recent trial showed that China-made vaccines are only 50.4% effective, meaning that you are more likely to get the virus from the vaccine than from not having the vaccine. Since the Chinese vaccine roll out in Brazil, Brazil has experienced the largest spike in coronavirus outbreaks of any other South American nation.

So missionaries must decide, do they want to take the vaccine and enter into China or do they want to avoid the vaccine and lose access to China?