COVID-19 Vaccine in China is Safe and Effective —— the State Council Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism Answers Questions about Vaccination.

Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, July 23rd Title: COVID-19 vaccine in China is safe and effective-the State Council joint prevention and control mechanism answers questions about vaccination.

Xinhua News Agency reporters Dong Ruifeng and Gu Tiancheng

Omicron’s BA.5 sub-branch has spread to more than 100 countries and regions around the world, resulting in an increase in the number of infections, hospitalizations and severe cases, and the pressure on China’s foreign countries to prevent imports is increasing.

How is the progress of vaccination in COVID-19? When will the Omicron vaccine be available? On the 23rd, the State Council Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism held a press conference to respond to the relevant issues of vaccination.

The incumbent party and state leaders have completed the domestic COVID-19 vaccination.

Ceng Yixin, deputy director of the National Health and Wellness Commission, introduced at the press conference of the joint prevention and control mechanism in the State Council on the 23rd that up to now, 31 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) and Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps have reported that the coverage rate of the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine is 92.1%, the whole vaccination rate is 89.7%, and the enhanced immunization rate is 71.7%.

In terms of vaccination of the elderly, at present, the vaccination rate of people over 60 years old in China is 89.6%, the whole vaccination rate is 84.7%, and the enhanced immunization rate is 67.3%.

"China’s current party and state leaders have completed COVID-19 vaccination, and all of them are vaccinated in China." Ceng Yixin introduced that this fully shows that Chinese leaders attach great importance to the prevention and control of epidemic situation and have high trust in the COVID-19 vaccine produced in China.

Omicron vaccine research and development is carried out by many technical routes in China.

Feng Zijian, executive vice president and secretary general of Chinese Preventive Medicine Association, said that at present, many technical routes in China have carried out research and development of univalent and multivalent Omicron mutant vaccines.

It is reported that the monovalent inactivated vaccine of Omicron mutant, which has made rapid progress, has been approved by clinical trials, and clinical trials are being carried out in Zhejiang, Hunan and Hongkong. The tetravalent recombinant protein vaccine, which has made rapid progress, has been approved for phase III clinical trial in UAE, and related research has been started. In addition, the research on broad-spectrum Covid-19 vaccine has been laid out, and the vaccine with rapid progress has been approved for clinical trials, and related research has been started.

"China’s vaccine still has a good protective effect on severe illness and death caused by Omicron mutant." Feng Zijian said that the research and development of Omicron mutant vaccine in China is progressing steadily and rapidly. As long as it is necessary and in accordance with the requirements of relevant laws and regulations, emergency use procedures can be started quickly to provide vaccination. As to whether and when to vaccinate the vaccine specifically targeting Omicron mutant, this issue is being studied not only in China but also internationally, mainly to judge the situation of virus mutation and immune escape.

Vaccination with COVID-19 vaccine will not cause leukemia and diabetes.

Wang Fusheng, director of the Department of Infectious Diseases Medicine of the Fifth Medical Center of the People’s Liberation Army General Hospital and academician of China Academy of Sciences, said that vaccination with COVID-19 vaccine will not cause leukemia and diabetes, nor will it affect the genetic development of human body, lead to tumor metastasis and spread, and cause antibody dependence enhancement, as some network information said.

Wang Fusheng said that all kinds of substances in the vaccine are safe to human body and will not cause diseases directly. The reagents used in the vaccine production process have been strictly verified by relevant institutions and reached the standard. At present, COVID-19 inactivated vaccine, which has the largest number of vaccinations in China, has sufficient safety guarantee and has been recognized by international organizations.

In addition, clinical monitoring and statistical data show that in the four years before and after the outbreak in COVID-19, the number of visits and hospitalizations of diabetes and leukemia were basically the same, and there was no significant change.

Wang Fusheng said that under the background of large-scale vaccination in COVID-19, it is inevitable that a large number of vaccinations are coupled with the natural occurrence of some serious diseases in time. It can be simply estimated that if COVID-19 vaccine really causes diabetes and leukemia, then the number of medical visits and hospitalizations will increase significantly, but from the actual monitoring and clinical statistics, this phenomenon has not been seen.

Homologous strengthening and sequential strengthening can greatly improve the protection effect.

Zheng Zhongwei, director of the Science and Technology Development Center of the National Health and Wellness Commission and head of the working group of the vaccine research and development special class of the scientific research group, said that the protective effect of vaccines in COVID-19 can be greatly improved regardless of homologous vaccination (vaccination with the same technical route) or sequential vaccination (vaccination with different approved technical routes).

Zheng Zhongwei introduced that it is better to strengthen immunization by homologous immunization or sequential immunization, and it cannot be simply generalized. Whether homologous booster vaccination or sequential booster vaccination, the protective effect on preventing morbidity, severe illness and death is quite remarkable. It is possible to adopt homologous strengthening or sequential strengthening. I hope everyone can actively strengthen vaccination.

When answering a question about vaccine dosage selection, Wang Junzhi, deputy head of the expert group of vaccine research and development special class of the State Council Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism, and academician of China Academy of Engineering, said that the data of animal protection experiment and human clinical trial in the process of vaccine research and development in COVID-19 of China showed that the safety index of inactivated vaccine was very good when the dosage was 3 μ g to 5 μ g, the antibody positive conversion rate was close to 100%, and the antibody titer reached the expected level, that is to say, its safety index and effectiveness index met the national standards.