Jim Cramer Says China's Vaccines 'Don't Work' But Xi Won't Admit It

COVID-19 cases have spiked again in China, sparking fresh lockdown measures in the nation's capital. Jim Cramer has suggested that Chinese President Xi Jinping isn't telling the whole story. 

"I don't know what's with President Xi other than the fact that it would be a terrible admission that their vaccines don't work," Cramer said Tuesday on CNBC's "Squawk On The Street."

What To Know: COVID-19 cases have been rising in multiple districts throughout China. On Monday, Beijing officials urged residents of the Chaoyang district to stay at home, extending a request from the weekend. The Haizhu district in Guangzhou also extended its COVID-19 restrictions in some areas to Nov. 27, according to local reports.

Beijing, the capital of China, reported more than 600 new COVID cases on Tuesday. Several reports indicate that Beijing will require individuals to show a negative PCR test within the last 48 hours to enter public venues like shops, hotels and government offices. 

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The new restrictions come after Beijing reported three COVID-related deaths over the weekend, its first deaths reportedly caused by the virus since May. 

"Can they tell the truth about anything? Three. I mean three people die like every 10 seconds of COVID," Cramer said. 

For some perspective, the U.S. has reported more than 1 million deaths due to COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic. The current seven-day average of new deaths is 317, according to the CDC.

Cramer suggested the numbers out of China are wrong and the continued spikes in COVID cases and subsequent lockdown measures show that the situation isn't under control. It's time for China to start using the vaccines that actually work, Cramer said. 

Why It Matters: CoronaVac is the most widely used COVID-19 vaccine in China. It's made by Beijing-based firm Sinovac Biotech Ltd SVA. The only other approved vaccine in China comes from state-owned Sinopharm Group Co Ltd SHTDY. 

The WHO approved the vaccines for emergency use on limited clinical-trial data in mid-2021, showing that CoronaVac was about 50% effective and Sinopharm was just below 80% effective. 

For comparison, data for Pfizer Inc PFE and BioNTech SE's BNTX COVID-19 vaccine, as well as Moderna Inc's MRNA mRNA vaccine, showed more than 90% efficacy on approval.

"I mean they reverse engineered the Pfizer vaccine, the mRNA vaccine, they have it. I do not understand why they won't give it to everybody," Cramer said.

He noted that Xi has the ability to end the continued COVID-19 problems in China, but suggested that pride might be getting in the way. 

"So I don't know how much longer this lockdown nonsense is going to continue because it's really up to him," he said.

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Photo: Marco Verch from Flickr.