Director of the China Centers for Disease Control, Gao Fu says Chinese vaccines ‘don’t have very high protection rates’
Customers buy vegetables at a market in Shenyang, China’s eastern Liaoning province. PIC/AFP
In a rare admission of the weakness of Chinese Coronavirus vaccines, the country’s top disease control official says their effectiveness is low and the government is considering mixing them to get a boost. Chinese vaccines “don’t have very high protection rates,” said the director of the China Centers for Disease Control, Gao Fu, at a conference on Saturday in the southwestern city of Chengdu.
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Beijing has distributed hundreds of millions of doses abroad while trying to promote doubt about the effectiveness of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine made using the previously experimental messenger RNA, or mRNA, process.
“It’s now under formal consideration whether we should use different vaccines from different technical lines for the immunisation process,” Gao said. Officials at a news conference on Sunday didn’t respond directly to questions about Gao’s comment or possible changes in official plans. But another CDC official said developers are working on mRNA-based vaccines.
“The mRNA vaccines developed in our country have also entered the clinical trial stage,” said the official, Wang Huaqing. He gave no timeline for possible use. Experts say mixing vaccines, or sequential immunisation, might boost effectiveness. Researchers in Britain are studying a possible combination of Pfizer-BioNTech and the traditional AstraZeneca vaccine.
The Coronavirus pandemic, which began in central China in late 2019, marks the first time the Chinese drug industry has played a role in responding to a global health emergency. Vaccines made by two state-owned drug makers, Sinovac and Sinopharm, have been exported to 22 countries including Mexico, Turkey, Indonesia, Hungary, Brazil and Turkey, according to the foreign ministry.
Pakistan extends COVID restrictions till Apr 13
Sikh pilgrims going to celebrate Baisakhi festival in Pakistan queue up to test for COVID-19 at the Golden Temple complex, in Amritsar. PIC/AFP
Pakistan has extended Coronavirus restrictions till April 13 as the country is witnessing a surge in COVID-19 cases with over 5,000 cases reported on Sunday. According to a statement released by Pakistan’s National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), the country’s government has decided to extend the restrictions in place till April 13, Pakistan’s Dawn reported.
Ex-Bangladesh PM Khaleda Zia tests positive
Former Bangladesh Prime Minister Khaleda Zia tested positive for COVID-19 on Sunday, a year after she was released from jail temporarily amidst the pandemic, according to media reports. The 75-year-old Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) chief’s samples were sent to the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh, for testing on Saturday, the Dhaka Tribune newspaper quoted Public Relations Officer, Health Ministry, Maidul Islam Prodhan as saying. “It came back as positive today [Sunday], which has been updated on the database of the Directorate of Health Services,” he told Dhaka Tribune
Variants worsen Canada’s 3rd wave
The rapid spread of more contagious COVID-19 variants is believed to have driven a devastating third wave in Canada. As of Saturday afternoon, a total of 30,108 variant of concern cases have been reported across Canada, including 28,624 B.1.1.7 variants, 1,133 P.1 variants and 351 B.1.351 variants, according to CTV. As of Saturday afternoon, Canada reported 5,986 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the cumulative total to 1,051,246.
S Korea to resume AZ jabs for those between 30-60 yrs
South Korea says it will resume administrating AstraZeneca’s Coronavirus vaccine to all eligible people between the ages of 30 and 60 years. The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said on Sunday it will restart the use of AstraZeneca vaccine beginning Monday, citing studies showing that the vaccine’s benefits outweighs the risk of side effects.
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