NHC head calls for vaccine research, booster uptake

China will take more resolute and faster action to screen and isolate COVID-19 risk groups and implement regular nucleic acid tests to reinforce its defense against the Omicron variant, according to Ma Xiaowei, minister of the National Health Commission.

The country will also accelerate research into Omicron-specific vaccines and advance uptake of booster shots among the elderly, he said in a signed article published on Monday in Qiushi Journal, a flagship magazine of the Communist Party of China Central Committee.

The article was released following a top Party leadership meeting on May 5 that reiterated China's commitments to its dynamic zero-COVID strategy as the country is battling a severe wave of outbreaks which have hit Jilin province and Shanghai the hardest.

Ma said China's adherence to strict control of the virus is determined by the nature and purpose of the Party. "The Party has always put the interests of the people first, and the safety and health of our people are the priority while formulating disease control policies and evaluating outcomes," he said.

"That also explains the fundamental reason for our decision to take a different approach to the virus from some Western countries," Ma added.

The World Health Organization estimates by the end of last year, about 15 million were killed by the virus or its impact on overburdened health systems. Data released recently by the United States and the European Union also revealed decreases in average life expectancy after the virus emerged.

But in China — a developing country with a large population — the rates of COVID-19 infection and death have been kept at the lowest level worldwide, and average life expectancy had risen steadily in the past two years.

"The Omicron variant is neither a 'natural vaccine' nor 'a larger size of flu'," he said. "We must fully understand the massive toll that will result from abandoning our disease control measures or coexisting with the virus," Ma said.

He stressed the focus of manpower and resources should be on preventing new cases. "Otherwise, treatment capacity will be under great pressure, threatening the health of those with underlying diseases, the elderly and other vulnerable groups," he said.

As Jilin province is at a closing phase of its fight against the virus and the epidemic in Shanghai is stabilizing and trending downward, Ma said China has stood the most strenuous test since the initial outbreak in Wuhan, Hubei province.

Faced with the continued threat of the fast-spreading Omicron, Ma said China will be more resolute in rolling out targeted control measures and isolating high-risk groups, as well as expediting mass screening and epidemiological investigation.

Heightened caution must be taken to prevent large enterprises, construction sites, food markets, schools and nursery care institutions from becoming virus hotspots, he added.

"Currently, disease control efforts must be strengthened in Shanghai to clear infections and win the battle there," he said, adding local outbreaks in Beijing and other key regions should also be handled swiftly to cut the virus's transmission in communities.

In provincial capitals and cities with over 10 million people, nucleic acid tests should be available within a 15-minute walk to facilitate weekly screening and frequent tests among key groups.

"Local authorities should also prepare sufficient designated hospitals, permanent makeshift hospitals and centralized quarantine facilities," he said. "Intensive care beds and first-aid personnel should also be increased."

Ma said clinical research and approval procedures for vaccines targeting Omicron will be expedited and booster shot campaigns will be advanced smoothly, with a focus on the elderly, especially those aged 80 and above.

To ensure normal medical services, Ma said hospitals that have to halt operations out of virus concerns should first seek permission from local health authorities and should not close for longer than two days.