>It is interesting how 8 years later nearly the same line of thinking took hold in the West (albeit with claim of injected mind control chips) amid anti-vaxxers.

That line of thinking always existed in the West, among the "Mark of the Beast" set. The interesting thing is the degree to which it, and conspiratorial politics in general, became so normalized in such a short time. Also how the anti-vax movement switched from a generally leftist ideology to being captured by right-wing identity politics.