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China is urged to use better Western-made coronavirus vaccines to safely end President Xi’s brutal ‘zero Covid’ regime which has sparked unprecedented anti-lockdown protests
- China should use mRNA vaccines to protect its citizens, German officials say
- The nation so far has relied on its own vaccines which are not as effective
- Chinese police officers have wrestled with protesters in latest demonstrations
China should use coronavirus vaccines produced by Pfizer and Moderna to better protect its citizens and bring an end to its economically-crippling zero-Covid policy, experts have claimed.
Unprecedented protests have swept across the country over a fresh batch of virus-containing rules which have caused disruption for millions.
The restrictions, part of President Xi’s draconian approach, aim to quell the virus’s spread. Cases have doubled in a fortnight to hit a record high, with 40,000 people testing positive every day.
German ministers have urged China to rollout the mRNA vaccines to boost immunity among its population. The nation so far has relied on its own vaccines, fluoxetine nursing interventions which are not as effective as those favoured in the West.
German ministers have urged China to rollout the mRNA vaccines (pictured) to boost immunity among its population. The nation so far has relied on its own vaccines which are not as effective as those favoured in other nations
China is experiencing an unprecedented wave of Covid which has sparked tough lockdowns, testing regimes and mask mandates
Policemen pin down and arrest a protester during a protest on a street in Shanghai, China, on Sunday
China has dished out two vaccines: CoronaVac and Sinopharm.
Data on the vaccines is limited but studies suggest they are not as effective as the mRNA jabs favoured worldwide.
CoronaVac
CoronaVac, made by Beijing-based Sinovac, uses an inactivated version of the virus to stimulate the body’s immune response.
However, studies have found it to be ineffective compared to the jabs used in the West.
Two doses of CoronaVac triggered ‘undetectable’ antibody levels in lab studies by Yale University.
When a Pfizer booster was administered after two CoronaVac jabs, it only raised protection to the same level as two Pfizer jabs, the study suggested.
A separate study suggested the jab cuts the risk of catching Covid by 66 per cent, while it is 88 per cent effective at preventing hospitalisation and 86 per cent effective at reducing the risk of death.
Sinopharm
The Sinopharm vaccine is an inactivated vaccine which triggers the body into producing Covid-fighting antibodies, working in the same way as CoronaVac.
The jab was originally found to be 78 per cent effective in clinical trials, according to the WHO.
However, subsequent real world data from Peru, which used the vaccine, showed it only cut the risk of infection by 50.4 per cent.
China’s daily Covid infections previously peaked at around 25,000 in April.
After that, it was logging between 200 and 2,000 cases per day.
But the rate began to shoot upwards one month ago and in recent days hit around 40,000, according to data from the National Health Commission.
Steffen Hebestreit, chief spokesperson for the German Government, suggested China should launch an immunisation campaign that uses the mRNA vaccines developed by Pfizer and Moderna.
Similar roll-outs across the world have allowed nations to ease restrictions and live with the virus — with minimal impact on daily life.
Mr Hebestreit told a press briefing: ‘Europe and Germany have had very good experience with administering mRNA vaccinations.’
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz had ‘made this clear’ to Chinese officials when recently visiting the country, he said.
Latest data suggests the mRNA jabs slash the risk of being hospitalised by up to 84 per cent against Omicron.
Meanwhile, data on China’s homegrown vaccines are limited.
But experts have long warned the jabs, which use older technology, are not as effective.
Despite discussions between health chiefs in China and Germany, the zero-Covid nation will only offer the mRNA jabs to Germans living in China.
Earlier in the pandemic, China failed to convince Moderna to share its vaccine technology.
The nation is now working on its own mRNA vaccine — but it is still in development.
Scientists have warned that China is a ‘difficult situation’ due to its poor-quality vaccine and low natural immunity among its population.
And vaccine uptake, even among the elderly, is low. Just 86 per cent of over-80s were double-jabbed by mid-November and only 68 per cent of over-60s had been boosted.
Analytics company Airfinity yesterday warned that between 1.3million and 2.1million people in the country were at risk of dying from Covid if its zero-Covid approach was scrapped.
Experts fear an inevitable surge in infections, including serious disease, whenever restrictions are eased.
However, these will then decline — as happened in Western nations — as the virus gets milder in the face of population immunity.
Professor Paul Hunter, an epidemiologist at the University of East Anglia, told MailOnline: ‘If they continue with their zero-Covid strategy, even more people will lose their protection [from vaccination] before being exposed to the virus.
‘And so severe disease and deaths will be even greater in the long term.’
He added: ‘If I was responsible in China, I would kick start a new vaccination campaign urgently to give everyone some more protection before then relaxing restrictions, especially for older people — pretty much what most Western nations have done.
‘The problem is vaccine fatigue. Will the Chinese be able to vaccinated as many people who would benefit from vaccine before the infection spreads widely?’
Dr Simon Clarke, a microbiologist based at the University of Reading, told MailOnline that the vaccines used in the UK are ‘less effective’, which may be fuelling the rise in cases.
Professor Lawrence Young, a virologist at Warwick University, told MailOnline China’s zero-Covid approach has resulted in fewer deaths than most other countries.
But it has fostered vaccine hesitancy, as people do not feel the need to get immunised if the virus is only circulating in low levels, he said.
Professor Young added: ‘There is a particular concern about the elderly in China where vaccination coverage of third booster shots is relatively low.
‘Overall, a combination of vaccine hesitancy, the use of less effective vaccines (certainly compared to mRNA spike vaccines) and relatively low waves of previous infection (due to the zero-Covid policy) means that the population does not have a wall of protective immunity.’
China’s National Health Commission (NHC) today said it would speed up the rollout of the vaccine to the most vulnerable.
Dramatic video shows a woman screaming as she is arrested by six police officers and dragged away from a main square in Hangzhou, as Chinese officials sought to crack down on protesters in the city
People hold sheets of blank paper and flower in protest of COVID restriction in mainland as police setup cordon during a vigil in the central district on Tuesday in Hong Kong, China.
Despite strict Covid controls, China is currently logging just 27 cases per million people, compared to 5,731 in the UK
China logged zero Covid deaths per million people yesterday, compared to 0.9 per million in the US and 1.1 in the UK
DAN WOOTTON: President Xi’s sick and deranged Zero Covid policy destroying his country is finally crumbling thanks to the brave Chinese freedom fighters. Shame on Ardern, Trudeau, Sturgeon and Hunt who backed such an approach in the West
Zero Covid equals Zero Freedom, Zero Spontaneity, Zero Contact, Zero Humanity, Zero Education, Zero Growth and, most chillingly, from a basic science perspective, Zero Immunity. Attempting to stamp out an airborne, highly contagious virus that has already swept the globe multiple times is a fool’s errand
It plans to target the over-80s in a publicity campaign that aims to promote the benefits of vaccination in reducing the risk of serious illness and death. It will also slash the three-month gap between second and third jabs.
Xia Gang, an NHC official in charge of immunisation services, said: ‘It is also the hope that our elderly friends, especially those over 80, will take the initiative and get vaccinated for their personal health protection.’
Experts yesterday warned that China is the ‘ideal’ breeding ground for risky variants because of how it has been sheltered from previous waves and has a low vaccine uptake.
High infection rates are a ‘cauldron of virus evolution’ which could result in a more lethal and immune-evading variant, they said.
However, other top scientists warned that the spike — which shows no signs of having peaked yet — will not necessarily lead to a worrying, new strain.
China has imposed stringent pandemic rules for nearly three years, ever since the coronavirus was first spotted in Wuhan.
It means the nation’s 1.4billion-plus residents have been plagued by aggressive restrictions while other nations who adopted hermit strategies have resorted to living with the virus, which poses a much milder threat now than when the pandemic began.
It has seen local authorities subject residents to strict lockdowns, mass testing campaigns and months-long quarantine even for tiny outbreaks, which has triggered food and medicine shortages.
But the latest spike has seen fresh Covid controls, leading to hundreds of protesters taking to the streets since the weekend, fuelled by anger over the unrelenting lockdowns as well as deep-rooted frustrations over China’s political direction.
The catalyst for the demonstrations was an apartment fire last week in the western city of Urumqi in which ten people died. Many speculated that Covid curbs in the city, parts of which had been under lockdown for 100 days, had hindered rescue and escape, which city officials denied.
The latest dramatic footage of the demonstrations show police officers wrestling protestors, as officials ramp up their crackdown.
Despite police officers ramping up their use of violence and intimidation against the protesters, some defiantly continued in their historic demonstrations last night.
One clip shows a woman screaming as she is arrested by six police officers and dragged away from a main square in Hangzhou.
A man is seen trying to stop the police from arresting the woman by shouting at them, but two officials were seen running at the protester and screaming at him to get back.
Footage also shows a huge crowd of protesters trying to stop a group of police from arresting two men in Hangzhou. But the police officers were seen wrestling with the protesters and dragging the two demonstrators away while holding the scruff of their collars.
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