“The protection rates of existing vaccines are not high,” Gao Fu, director of the China Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said Saturday. “It is time to formally consider whether we should use vaccines developed from different technologies to boost immunization,” he said, adding that China should not overlook mRNA vaccines.
Commonly used in the United States and several other countries, the Pfizer BioNTech and Moderna shots use mRNA technology, a new type of vaccine that sends messages to cells in the body to produce a protein that protects against COVID-19. The two most commonly used Covid-19 vaccines in China – the locally developed Sinovac and Sinopharm – are based on inactivated viruses.
But Gao’s comments were controversial in China, and as his comments gained popularity on social media and international news platforms, Chinese censorship quickly cleared discussions online. State media quickly posted an interview with Gao to back down his comments.
The Global Times, a state-run nationalist tabloid, quoted Gao as saying the reports of his confession were “a complete misunderstanding,” and published new, watered-down comments from Gao.
There is little data to show what the impact would be of mixing different types of vaccines, although clinical trials have begun. France announced last week that it would offer alternative shots to people under 55 who had received a single dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine, after the European Medicines Agency (EMA) identified a ‘possible link’ between the shot and a very rare blood disorder that can cause a serious condition. blood clots. EMA has not issued advice on mixing and matching vaccines due to the lack of data.
YOU ASKED. WE ANSWER.
Q. How good are these vaccines? Why should I get a vaccine that is less effective than another?
A. Of the vaccines approved for use in the United States, both the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna injections provide about 95% protection against symptomatic Covid-19, and both are nearly 100% effective against serious disease. In their clinical studies, no one vaccinated from Covid-19 died.
The Johnson & Johnson vaccine was 72% effective against Covid-19 among US subjects and 85% effective against serious diseases. Like the other two vaccines, no one vaccinated during the clinical trial died from Covid-19.
But that doesn’t mean Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine is worse than Moderna or Pfizer’s vaccines. Johnson & Johnson’s was later tested, as coronavirus cases increased and new variants spread more widely. And unlike the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines, which require two doses, the Johnson & Johnson injection only needs one dose.
WHAT IS IMPORTANT TODAY
Hair salons and beer gardens – England is crawling out of lockdown
Gyms and zoos can also reopen, as long as they all have Covid-secured measures. The relaxation of measures in England comes now that the UK – which includes Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland – has vaccinated at least 32 million people with at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, nearly half of the total population . About 7 million people, more than 10% of the population, have had both doses.
Germany is getting closer to national lockdown as ICUs are nearly full
The coalition government of German Chancellor Angela Merkel has drafted a law to give the federal government the power to impose a national lockdown, German newspaper Welt reported, as the number of cases of infection there steadily increases and doctors warn that intensive care departments (ICUs) are under severe pressure.
Germany surpassed 3 million infections Monday, official public health data shows, following a daily increase of more than 13,000 cases and 99 more deaths. The total death toll is now 78,452 in the country of 83 million. The director of the intensive care association, Christian Karagiannidis, said Germany had “reached the peak” of IC bed occupancy and warned that health workers are “breaking down”.
The country’s Covid-19 response was mainly celebrated in the early months of the pandemic for its very high number of hospital and intensive care beds and Merkel’s ability to bring regional leaders together to implement uniform nationwide measures. However, this year’s rollout of the vaccine in Germany has also been slow, and it now looks at Russia’s Sputnik shot amid shortages and safety concerns surrounding the AstraZeneca vaccine.
Long-haul flights struggle to convince doctors they’ve had Covid for a long time
Proving that they are still sick months after being infected has been half the battle for people around the world suffering from long-term Covid. In the UK alone, nearly 700,000 people in the country reported having symptoms for three months after infection. About 70,000 say symptoms lasted for more than a year.
Health experts now warn of a global “second pandemic” of long hauler Covid-19. They say the UK is failing to adequately address the problem, and fear less prosperous countries could suffer even more.
ON OUR RADAR
- Hindus filled the streets of Haridwar, India for the world’s largest religious pilgrimage and defied social distance rules as the number of infections soared.
- Michigan is in the midst of a Covid-19 wave, and an epidemiologist says other states should pay close attention.
- As coronavirus cases soar and hospital beds fill up in Pakistan, the country became one of the first to allow the private sector to import and sell vaccines. And they are sold out.
- Protests erupted in Montreal on Sunday night after the city’s final curfew went into effect due to spikes in Covid-19 cases.
- A Florida wine and food festival requires proof of vaccination. The founder explains why.
TODAY’S TOP TIP
As a pediatrician, Dr. Edith Bracho-Sanchez spends many of her days with nervous moms and dads, listening to why they worry about their kids getting vaccinations. “It often manifests itself as complete disagreements over the education of children,” said Bracho-Sanchez.
To break the complexity, she tells families that she would never condemn parents or accuse them of not loving their children any less if they fear vaccinations. She just asks them to talk about it, and skeptical parents often drop by.
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“Chinatown was seen as the source of these diseases. Chinatown was a neglected neighborhood.”
– Laureen Hom, assistant professor of political science at California State Polytechnic University Pomona.