Wuhan Back In Spotlight As Delta Variant Highlights Booster Shots Urgency
Delta Variant Poses New Challenges To China
Executive Summary
Amid surging infections in several cities including Wuhan, China is urging vaccination among unvaccinated people, but a booster shot may be needed soon to address a low efficacy among Chinese vaccines, some say.
Just days ago, China’s tight grip over COVID infections seemed to be working with a handful of daily reported cases, mainly from returnees and overseas passengers, but now a surge in domestically transmitted cases highlights a need for more effective protection from the threat of the delta variant.
As of 5 August, daily reported cases have risen to over 100, with many cases domestically transmitted and the increase signaling more wide-spreading infections.
To prevent further transmission, the Chinese government has imposed restrictions on trains coming to Beijing from 31 cities and enforced a lockdown on a residential complex in Beijing.
Amid the soaring cases, the Chinese government has again tightened the control over its borders, with new restrictions over issuing visas to visitors whose trips are deemed to be non-urgent.
Wuhan, the city where first reported cases of SARS-CoV-2 infections emerged, is once again at the center of the latest outbreak.
The city of 11 million inhabitants, which is the central hub of China, reported seven confirmed cases, while two cases were reported in the neighboring city of Jinzhou. These are the first batch of reported domestic cases since the city was declared COVID-free zone last June.
To address the outbreak, Wuhan city conducted mass PCR testing on all residents from 3 August, with testing carried out overnight. By 4 August, roughly 400,000 people residing in the district deemed to be at elevated risk had been tested.
mRNA Vaccines Coming?
Amid the new outbreak of local transmitted cases, the National Health Commission urges vaccinations, but without a booster shot in sight, there are few people who are left for further vaccinations.
As of 3 August, the official figure shows 1.7035 billion vaccinations nationwide, translating to an overall vaccination rate of 60.7% in adults, seniors over 60 and youth aged over 12.
Already concerned with a low efficacy rate for domestically developed COVID-19 vaccines, the Chinese government is gearing up to approve the first booster shot. So far, the national regulators are nearing the final stage to approve Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical (Group) Co., Ltd./ C#5277:BioNTech SE] mRNA vaccines as the likely candidates.
.
However, the comparatively slow approval process for the mRNA vaccine prompts questions over whether China prefers domestically developed vaccines over foreign shots.
SinoVac, CanSino Tout Booster Shots
Domestic vaccines makers are touting new data to show their booster shot potential.
Sinovac Biotech Ltd. said data showed that, after getting a third dose of its CoronaVac, neutralizing antibody levels in healthy adults aged 18-59 were significantly higher than baseline. The results of the study were published by pre-peer review Medrxiv.
Another domestic developer, CanSino Biologics Inc., said its adenovirus-based vaccines provided best protection as a booster based on data from studies conducted in mice. The neutralizing antibody level for its shot is eight times higher than that of the inactivated virus-based vaccines, said the company's chief scientific officer Tao Zhu in a 5 August webinar.
State-owned Sinopharm Group Co., Ltd. meanwhile said its inactivated virus based COVID-19 vaccine show efficacy against the Delta variant. Using convalescent patient-derived phage-display libraries, Sinopharm researchers said the 2B11 neutralizing antibody showed similar activity for the original strain and the Delta variant, indicating values of “short-term prevention and early treatment” of the spreading variant.