Covid riumph' in China will rely on vaccines, medicines, and mild variants
Key Takeaways:
- China's Covid Zero policy is allowing the country to improve measures that will allow it to declare victory over the virus.
- China is ratcheting up efforts to contain its deadliest epidemic since the pandemic began, with the virus spreading to Beijing and Shanghai, two of the country's most vital cities.
- While the rest of the world has learned to live with the virus, the Covid Zero policy has sparked debate over when and how China will reopen.
According to a leading expert, China's Covid Zero strategy is buying time for the country to strengthen steps that would allow it to declare triumph over the virus.
Liang Wannian, the director of the National Health Commission expert panel, said at a briefing in Beijing on Friday that the government needs to increase immunization rates among the elderly and disadvantaged, as well as guarantee that it has enough medical resources such as hospital beds and antiviral medications. He said that future versions with a decreased risk of death would support the strategy.
The priorities set forth by Liang, a seasoned epidemiologist who has directed China's Covid response from the start, are the clearest indication yet of what the country's virus-fighting approach should be.
With the virus spreading to Beijing and Shanghai, two of China's most important cities, China is stepping up attempts to contain its deadliest epidemic since the pandemic began.
However, past flare-up-suppressing tactics such as draconian lockdowns and mass testing are failing in the face of Omicron, resulting in an escalating economic and societal toll.
"Using the time that the 'dynamic zero' strategy has provided us to make these preparations, we will triumph over Covid," Liang added. He claims that if China abandons the strategy before it is ready, the healthcare system will be swamped, the well-being of vulnerable populations will be jeopardized, and the economy will suffer.
The Covid Zero approach, while the rest of the world has learned to live with the virus, has spurred debate over when and how China would reopen.
The policy allowed the country to expand in 2020 despite other major economies contracting, but the outbreak this year threatens to roil global supply networks.
More than 88 percent of China's population has been fully vaccinated, with more than 81 percent of persons aged 60 and up receiving two injections. Clinical investigations have indicated that inactivated vaccines from China's Sinopharm Group Co. and Sinovac Biotech Ltd. are less efficient in halting infections than live vaccinations, albeit the gap in guarding against severe sickness and mortality is narrower.
Pfizer Inc.'s antiviral paxlovid was licensed by China earlier this year. It also has a bevy of domestic medication candidates, the most advanced of which is nearing the end of human testing. However, it's unclear whether or when they will be authorized and made widely available.
Although Omicron is milder than previous varieties, Liang's remarks suggest that China's mortality risk is still greater than its health system can handle. The current viral outbreak in Hong Kong — which Liang advised as the outbreak spiraled into the world's deadliest — had a fatality rate of 0.76 percent, compared to 0.1 percent in some countries.