The beginning of 2022 seems to take us back to the beginning of the pandemic two years ago.
Working from home, online classes, grabbing food, quarantine… Most people’s lives have also re-entered into early 2020.
Since March, the current round of the epidemic has spread in many places, especially in Jilin, Shanghai, Guangdong, Fujian and other places. The number of local cases is increasing day by day, and the number of asymptomatic infections is large.
Compared to previous months, the trend appears to be more severe.
When will this round of the epidemic end?
In view of the current trend of the global and Chinese epidemics, the national epidemic is still on the rise, the current epidemic situation is not clear, and the domestic epidemic has shown many aspects.
Combining these aspects, the Health and Health Commission has given the latest research and judgment, and believes that it will not end in the near future, and it still needs to be controlled at the lowest social cost in the shortest time. In the face of the epidemic, the general strategy of “foreign defense against imports and internal defense against rebound” and the general policy of “dynamic clearing” remain unswerving.
After more than two years of strict prevention and control, the virus has largely been controlled in China.
However, as the virus continues to mutate, its pathogenicity continues to decline, and the cost of epidemic prevention gradually increases, many countries have also adjusted the strategic direction and strategy of anti-epidemic.
As for my country’s current prevention and control strategy, if we want to adhere to the general strategy of “external defense input, internal defense rebound” and “dynamic defense” The general policy of “clearing to zero” remains unswerving, and there is still a shortcoming in defense – the vaccination rate of the elderly population is not high.
Hong Kong epidemic, most of the deaths are elderly people who have not been vaccinated
Hong Kong, China is currently in the “fifth wave of the epidemic”, but this wave is the most serious new crown epidemic in history,
As the Omicron BA.2 virus strain has become the mainstream strain of the epidemic, the original defense strategy could not withstand it. Cumulatively more than 7,000 people, of which 96% of deaths were 60 years or older and 71% were 80 years or older.
And most of these new crown deaths are concentrated in the elderly who have not been vaccinated.
According to the data released by the Hong Kong Department of Health, less than 10% of Hong Kong people are not currently vaccinated, but they account for as high as 69% of deaths.
These elderly people who have not been vaccinated against the new crown virus are more likely to be infected by the virus, and at the same time, they will also increase the risk of severe death. In addition, the elderly have more chronic diseases, and the new crown virus infection It can lead to complications and aggravate the condition.
Even in mainland China, the vaccination rate of the elderly is not much better
As of March 25, data show that 57.1% of Hong Kong people aged over 80 have received at least one dose, and more than 40% have completed two doses.
On the other hand, only 50.7% of the elderly over the age of 80 in mainland China have completed the basic vaccination, and there are 52 million elderly people over the age of 60 who have not completed the basic vaccination.
For the elderly, it is precisely the most in need of protection and the most in need of vaccination
The immune function of the elderly is worse than that of young people, and most of them have underlying diseases. Once infected with the virus, the risk of severe illness and death is much higher than that of young people.
Therefore, in the face of the mutated strain of the new coronavirus, vaccination can well prevent severe illness and prevent death. Therefore, the elderly need more protection and vaccination.
According to the latest data from the official website of the New Zealand Ministry of Health, the vaccination rate in New Zealand is extremely high, especially for the elderly aged 75 and above, which is 100%.
New Zealand also has one of the lowest COVID-19 case fatality rates in the world, with an overall case fatality rate of just 0.03%.
Why deploy sequential booster immunizations?
As early as late February, the National Health and Health Commission began deploying sequential booster immunizations for vaccine popularization.
The so-called sequential booster immunization refers to the use of vaccines of different technical routes and different antigenic vaccines, according to certain intervals and doses, so as to obtain better preventive effects and safety.
According to previous experience in infectious disease prevention and control, a single vaccine can be used to deal with conventional viruses.
However, the new coronavirus in this epidemic is not only stubborn, but also good at mutation. Epidemic prevention should implement different technical routes to defend against the new coronavirus and its variants from multiple perspectives.
Like a defensive position on the battlefield, if the attacker is stubborn and cunning. In terms of defense, it should be fortified from multiple directions and reinforce the troops.
The reinforcements can be the same army (homologous vaccine) as on the position, or other arms such as the air force (heterologous vaccine) that are different from the soldiers on the position. would be better.
“Sequential booster immunization is the fourth shot of the new crown”, which is a technical misreading of the deployment of this booster immunization, that is, not fully understood This “mixed fight” strengthens the technical principle of the needle.
The key point is that the heterologous vaccine that requires booster immunization does not overlap with the previous homologous vaccine, but can also replace each other. Therefore, it is impossible to have four injections, and naturally there is no such thing as “the fourth injection of the new crown”.
If eligible, please bring the elderly for vaccination as soon as possible
Multiple data show that even in the face of constant mutation of the virus, the three-needle booster vaccination can be very good at preventing infection, especially reducing severe illness and death.
When will this epidemic end? Can we do “dynamic zeroing” as soon as possible? Will there be an opportunity to adjust the future new crown epidemic prevention strategy?
And the level of vaccination coverage among the elderly has become a key link.
Families are therefore also requested to bring eligible seniors to be vaccinated in a timely manner, not only for them, but also for themselves.
References:
【1】McMenamin ME, Nealon J, Lin Y, et al. Vaccine efficacy of two and three doses of BNT162B2 and coronavirus against COVID-19 in Hong Kong [J].medRxiv.2022 .
[2] Yang Jing. Disease control expert Hu Weijun: It is very necessary for the elderly to vaccinate against the new coronavirus, please complete the vaccination as soon as possible [N]. Shaanxi Daily, 2022-03-22(004).< /p>