Start of sequential booster immunization of COVID-19 vaccine

　　[Authoritative release]

　　In the past week, the newly confirmed cases in neighboring countries and regions continued to grow rapidly, and the pressure of "external defense input" in China continued to increase. On February 19th, the press conference of the State Council joint defense and control mechanism was held in Beijing. Relevant experts responded to the situation of epidemic prevention and control and vaccination work.

　　"At present, China’s local cluster epidemic still occurs. With the return after the holiday and the resumption of work, the risk of epidemic spread persists." Mi Feng, spokesperson of the National Health and Wellness Commission and deputy director of the Propaganda Department, stressed that it is necessary to always adhere to the general strategy of "external defense input, internal defense rebound" and the general policy of "dynamic clearing", overcome paralyzed thoughts and relaxed mentality, and accurately prevent and control the epidemic.

　　While still in Spring Festival travel rush, we should do our best to prevent the spread of the epidemic.

　　Wu Liangyou, deputy director of the CDC of the National Health and Wellness Commission, suggested that schools will open one after another during the period of Spring Festival travel rush. The National Health and Wellness Commission will pay close attention to the epidemic prevention and control work in various places, and guide the safe and orderly flow of personnel in conjunction with relevant departments to ensure the overall stability of the epidemic situation during Spring Festival travel rush. At present, the working group sent by the Comprehensive Group of the State Council Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism has been working with local authorities to deal with the cluster epidemic in Liaoning, Inner Mongolia, Guangdong and other provinces and regions to guide the implementation of various measures.

　　Guo Yanhong, inspector of the Medical Administration Hospital Authority of the National Health and Wellness Commission, pointed out that after the outbreak in Baise, Guangxi, the joint prevention and control mechanism of the State Council immediately sent a working group to the front line to guide the prevention and treatment of the local epidemic, and a number of national medical treatment experts joined the working group to carry out medical treatment with local medical experts.

　　Since the first patient was admitted to Baise on February 5, as of February 18, 272 patients were admitted to the local designated hospitals, and 4 cases developed into severe diseases. After careful treatment, two of the four patients have turned mild and there is no critical illness.

　　"From last year to this year, all localities have increased the construction and preparation of designated hospitals. The epidemic situation in Baise mainly occurred in Debao County, which is located in the southwest border and is a border county. Although it is remote, it has also built a better designated hospital. " Guo Yanhong said, "At present, the overall situation of patients is stable and the treatment work is smooth. As of February 18, 30 patients have been cured and discharged. "

　　The National Health and Wellness Commission has deployed sequential intensive immunization.

　　Wu Liangyou said that according to the progress of vaccine research and development in Covid-19, recently, with the approval of the joint prevention and control mechanism in the State Council, the National Health and Wellness Commission has started to deploy sequential enhanced immunization. Sequential inoculation refers to interval inoculation (alternate inoculation) of the same vaccine with different technical routes.

　　Wu Liangyou said that before that, the target population over 18 years old who had been vaccinated with inactivated vaccines from Sinopharm Zhongsheng Beijing Company, Wuhan Company and Beijing Kexing Company and adenovirus vector vaccine from Tianjin Kangxinuo Company for six months could be given a dose of homologous booster immunization, that is, the original vaccine was used for booster immunization.

　　"After the implementation of the sequential immunization strategy, the target population who has been vaccinated with the above three inactivated vaccines can also choose the recombinant protein vaccine of Zhifeikema or the adenovirus vector vaccine of Kangxinuo for sequential immunization. For the target population, you can choose one of homologous booster immunization and sequential booster immunization. " Wu Liangyou said, "No matter homologous strengthening or sequential strengthening, it is implemented in people over 18 who have completed the whole vaccination for 6 months."

　　"The research data show that both homologous immunization and sequential immunization can further improve the immune effect." Wu Liangyou said.

　　Wang Huaqing, chief expert of immunization program of China CDC, pointed out that sequential immunization is a process of continuous improvement of immunization strategy and a decision based on scientific evidence. However, there are also some special precautions: first, the target of sequential immunization is people over 18 years old; The second is to complete two doses of inactivated vaccine inoculation; Third, after completing two doses of vaccination, the interval of sequential booster immunization should not be shorter than 6 months; Fourth, there was no booster immunization, that is, there was no third injection. "We must strictly grasp these conditions."

　　Wang Huaqing suggested that the public should continue to do a good job of personal protection and truthfully report their health status to the vaccinators when they are vaccinated. Observe for 30 minutes after vaccination. If there is any adverse reaction suspected to be related to vaccination, if it lasts for a long time and the symptoms are serious, report it to the vaccination unit and seek medical treatment in time.

　　Omicron mutant is more contagious, spreads faster and has atypical infection symptoms.

　　In November, 2021, Omicron mutant was detected for the first time in South Africa. Up to now, Omicron infection cases have been found in more than 100 countries around the world, and Omicron has become the main mutant in the global epidemic. Since January, 2022, local clustering epidemic caused by Omicron mutant has also occurred in Tianjin, Anyang, Henan and Baise, Guangxi.

　　"Omicron mutant has become the dominant strain of imported and local epidemic in China, with stronger spreading power and faster spreading speed. The risk of overseas imported epidemic and local epidemic in China has greatly increased. " Wu Liangyou said.

　　According to Guo Yanhong, Omicron mutant mainly has the following characteristics:

　　First, it is more contagious and spreads faster. Omicron mutant is more likely to cause human infection and spread among people. Through epidemiological analysis of existing cases, the average generation interval between infected cases in Omicron is 3 days, which is further shortened than the time of about 4 days of Delta mutant. Its spreading ability is about twice that of Delta mutant, so it has stronger spreading ability and faster spreading speed.

　　Second, the symptoms of Omicron infection are atypical, and the transmission process is more hidden. From the clinical manifestations, the infection of Omicron strain is similar to the symptoms of upper respiratory tract infection caused by other viruses, lacking specific manifestations, which makes clinical differential diagnosis more difficult and virus transmission more concealed.

　　Thirdly, the cases are mainly mild and common, with relatively mild symptoms. The main clinical manifestations are cough, sore throat, fever, etc. Some patients have symptoms such as nasal congestion, runny nose, fatigue and headache. In addition, the patient’s imaging changes are atypical. Overall, the proportion of critically ill patients is not very high. However, due to its rapid spread, once it is spread by people, it may cause a run on medical resources.

　　According to Shao Yiming, a member of the expert group of vaccine research and development special class of the State Council Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism, in order to be prepared, China has deployed vaccine research and development units to carry out vaccine research and development of Omicron mutant. "Even if the virus has a more serious mutation, such as completely escaping the preventive effect of the vaccine currently produced, China can quickly produce new vaccines on a large scale. This public can rest assured. " Shao Yiming said.

　　Nucleic acid detection has become a public service for the society.

　　"Covid-19’s nucleic acid detection ability in China is generally very strong." Guo Yanhong introduced that up to now, there are 12,277 institutions in China that have carried out Covid-19 nucleic acid detection, including both traditional fixed laboratories and mobile detection laboratories such as cabins, gas films and detection vehicles, and the total number of single-tube detection has reached 45.55 million/day. "If we adopt the method of 10-in-1 or 20-in-1 mixed sample detection, the detection ability and efficiency will be further improved."

　　Guo Yanhong pointed out that under the situation of normalized epidemic prevention and control, nucleic acid detection has become a public service for the society. At present, all provinces have determined the list of institutions that provide 24-hour nucleic acid testing services and announced it to the public. At the same time, because the public’s testing needs will fluctuate greatly in different periods, we also require all localities to arrange corresponding testing institutions reasonably according to the public’s testing needs.

　　"In order to strengthen the quality management and quality monitoring of detection, the state and provinces regularly carry out laboratory interstitial evaluation to ensure the quality of nucleic acid detection." Guo Yanhong said, "According to incomplete statistics, the average cost of a single nucleic acid test in Covid-19, a public medical institution in 31 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities), is about 39 yuan. The average cost of multi-person mixed inspection is less than 10 yuan. "

　　(Beijing, February 19 th, by reporter Zhang Yaxiong)