Covid-19 in China

[Randy W]

from TheStraitsTimes (Singapore)

China to issue 'health certificates' for travel; open to vaccinate athletes for Games: Foreign Minister

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BEIJING - China said on Sunday (March 7) that it would be issuing "health certificates" - an apparent first step to a global health passport - to allow for international travel amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

The country is also open to working with the International Olympic Committee to immunise athletes taking part in the sporting event.

It would also be setting up regional vaccination sites to inoculate its citizens overseas, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said at his annual press conference.

"We will introduce an international health certificate... and launch the Chinese version of an international electronic health travel document," he said, which will allow for the verification of nucleic acid tests and vaccination records.

Mr Wang did not go into details about which countries would be included and whether travellers holding the document would still have to undergo quarantine upon entering China.

 

 

[Randy W]

the Sixth Tone on the Covid certificates
https://www.facebook.com/1570821646570023/posts/2896414740677367/?substory_index=0

 

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China is working to create a digital health certificate system to recognize travelers’ COVID-19 test and vaccine histories, sparking discussion over when and to what extent the country will relax international travel restrictions.

Read more: http://ow.ly/2vzG50DSOA0

 

China Aims to Reopen Borders Using Digital Health Certificates
China’s foreign minister says the country is working on an international system to recognize travelers’ COVID-19 test and vaccine histories, but details remain murky.

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Wang said the Chinese government is engaging with international partners on the program but did not reveal which countries are involved, what stage of development the program has reached, or when it may finally be rolled out. The digital health certificates would be implemented while “fully protecting personal privacy,” the foreign minister added, without specifying how this would be achieved.

 . . .

International arrivals could be exempted from compulsory 14-day quarantine measures if they carry both a negative nucleic acid test result and a vaccine passport, Zhu recently told domestic media. Those in China with a vaccine passport, meanwhile, would be allowed to travel domestically without having to take a nucleic acid test, he added.

China currently imposes strict conditions on those wishing to enter the country. Travelers are required to obtain a negative nucleic acid test result within 72 hours of travel. Once in China, they must then undergo 14 days of quarantine, as well as a “health observation” period of up to seven days, depending on local policies.

 

 

[Randy W]

 . . . and this

"Please be noted that the above-mentioned visa facilitation applies only to applicants who have been inoculated with COVID-19 vaccines produced in China"

Notice on Visa Facilitation for Applicants Inoculated with COVID-19 Vaccines Produced in China

2021/03/12

 

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In view of resuming people-to-people exchanges between China and other countries in an orderly manner, starting from 15 March 2021, the Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China in the HKSAR will provide the following facilitation for visa applicants who have been inoculated with COVID-19 vaccines produced in China and obtained the vaccination certificate:

1. Foreign nationals and their family members visiting the mainland of China for resuming work and production in various fields need only to provide the documents required before the COVID-19 pandemic when applying for a visa. The Invitation Letter (PU), Invitation Letter (TE) or Invitation Verification Notice issued by the foreign affairs offices or the departments of commerce of the provincial (including autonomous regions and municipalities) governments or the headquarters of central state-owned enterprises are no longer required.

 . . .

Please be noted that the above-mentioned visa facilitation applies only to applicants who have been inoculated with COVID-19 vaccines produced in China (either having received two doses of Chinese-made vaccines with the stipulated gap in between, or having received a single-dose Chinese-made vaccine at least 14 days prior to the application) and obtained the vaccination certificate. A proof of a negative COVID-19 nucleic acid test result and the Health and Travel Record Declaration Form for Visa Application are no longer required.

 

 

Edited March 15, 2021 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Randy W]

from China Highlights

China Travel Restrictions, Entry & Quatantine Policy for Foreigners (Updated March 15th, 2021)

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When Will China Open Its Borders?

China may open its borders to visitors in October 2021 according to current trends:
. . .

Can I Travel to China Now?

Possibly. Foreign nationals can travel to China now if they meet one of the following requirements:

• holding a valid Chinese residence permit for work, personal matters, or reunion;
• or holding a diplomatic, service, courtesy or C visa.

If you don't meet these conditions, but have a valid visa issued before March 26th, 2020 (no matter what type of visa), you still can’t use it to come to China at present. You would need to apply for a new visa. If you get a valid visa, you can come to China.

 

 

Edited March 16, 2021 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Randy W]

In the meantime (or while in quarantine), how about some virtual Travel from home 🏠?

from The China Trips on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/2358098751081249/posts/3668194493404995/

Take A Virtual Tour Of Yunnan While In Quarantine

Edited March 16, 2021 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Randy W]

Hong Kong quarantine from the SCMP on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/scmp/videos/2880944162118652/

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Inside a Hong Kong quarantine camp

The purpose-built Penny's Bay Quarantine Centre in Hong Kong can isolate up to 7,000 people. Here's a look inside the facility.

[Randy W]

from the NY Times

Think Covid’s Messed Up Your Travel Plans? Try Getting Into China.
To keep the virus out, Beijing has enacted some of the world’s toughest border controls. Lives have been upended, and business has been disrupted.

Waiting at Beijing Daxing International Airport last month.Credit...Jade Gao/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
 

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Leave your partner and children behind. Quarantine for up to a month. Get inoculated with a Covid-19 vaccine from China, if you can find one. And prepare yourself for an anal swab.

For the past year, people trying to go to China have run into some of the world’s most formidable barriers to entry. To stop the coronavirus, China bans tourists and short-term business travelers outright, and it sets tough standards for all other foreigners, even those who have lived there for years.

The restrictions have hampered the operations of many companies, separated families and upended the lives of thousands of international students. Global companies say their ranks of foreign workers in the country have dwindled sharply.

 . . .

China was the only major economy to grow last year. It knows businesses will find a way to keep their Chinese operations running, with or without expatriates, and it is betting that they will come back when the pandemic eases. At the same time, China’s restrictions highlight the inadequacies of its vaccine rollout, which has been slow compared to those of the United States, Britain and other countries.

 . . .

In recent days, Chinese embassies in at least 50 countries have said that foreigners wanting to enter China could avoid some visa paperwork by taking a Chinese-made Covid-19 vaccine. The government has presented the rule as an easing of its visa application procedures. But it does not help travelers from countries like the United States where Chinese vaccines are not available.

 

 

[Randy W]

On 2/25/2021 at 11:01 PM, Randy W said:

Some feedback from the WHO team sent to Wuhan - a good read

from Wikipedia - "Scroll.in, simply referred to as Scroll,[1] is an Indian Hindi and English language digital news publication owned by the Scroll Media Incorporation.[2] Founded in 2014, the website and its journalists have won several national and international awards including four Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Awards and the CPJ International Press Freedom Awards."

 . . . and the author of this article - "Dominic Dwyer is the Director of Public Health Pathology, NSW Health Pathology at the Westmead Hospital and University of Sydney."

I was on the WHO team that went to Wuhan to study the origins of coronavirus. Here’s what we found
Our investigations concluded the virus was most likely of animal origin. It probably crossed over to humans from bats, via an as-yet-unknown animal.

 

from the WSJ on the WHO report - this appears to NOT be pay-walled

WHO Report Into Covid-19 Origins Leaves Key Questions Unanswered
Long-awaited report says data examined during China mission was insufficient to explain when, where and how virus began spreading

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The long-awaited report, which has yet to be made public but was reviewed by The Wall Street Journal on Monday, calls for closer examination of Chinese hospital records and blood samples from before the first known cases in December 2019, as well as more extensive testing of farms that supplied wild animals to a market linked to many early cases.

But the 319-page document, shared with WHO member states ahead of its planned publication on Tuesday, also recommends further studies into evidence, often cited by Chinese authorities, that the virus may have circulated in other countries—including the U.S.—in late 2019, and that it has spread via frozen food.

The report presents the findings of the four-week mission completed earlier this year by a WHO-led team of international experts and their Chinese counterparts in Wuhan, the Chinese city that was the site of the first confirmed coronavirus cases.

The team had little power to conduct a thorough, independent investigation during their trip. China initially resisted international pressure for an inquiry, and later imposed strict limitations, secured China veto rights over participants and expanded its scope to encompass other countries.

 

 

[Randy W]

from the Sixth Tone on Facebook 

Update: Yunnan province’s disciplinary authority announced on April 8 that the city of Ruili’s party chief, Gong Yunzun, was removed from his post for “serious dereliction of duty” in preventing and controlling local COVID-19 outbreaks.

Because the boundary between Myanmar and Yunnan province is relatively porous, with people on both sides speaking the same languages and frequently intermingling, containing outbreaks in border communities can be especially challenging for local authorities.

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Health authorities in Yunnan province, where Ruili is located, reported Tuesday that five more people in the city had tested positive for the coronavirus the previous day, bringing the province’s total case count to 112 after citywide testing began last Wednesday. A majority of these individuals showed symptoms, and almost all tested positive in or around Ruili.

During a press conference Monday, local authorities said they would launch a second round of mass testing the following day.

Because the boundary between Myanmar and Yunnan province is relatively porous, with people on both sides speaking the same languages and frequently intermingling, containing outbreaks in border communities can be especially challenging for local authorities.

 

 

Edited May 15, 2021 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Randy W]

from the SCMP on Facebook 
https://www.facebook.com/scmp/videos/3467290170039406/

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China is exploring ways of increasing the efficacy of their Covid-19
 vaccines: mixing different types of shots is being explored.

[eseum]

I've seen a number of articles now about the efficacy of the Chinese vaccines. I find it interesting that Chinese officials are now looking at producing a vaccine similar to the Phizer and Moderna vaccines, after dissing those. They are finally admitting that they are not getting the results needed with what they have already made. It's also becoming absurd with their policy for entry into China, with getting a Chinese vaccine that is only around 55% effective. I probably won't be traveling back to China any time soon, or probably future long term. if they keep this up.

[Randy W]

A word about how "efficacy" is determined. It is determined after vaccinated people are observed in their population with whatever infection rate is occurring at the time.

They are not comparable between different areas and different "waves". Simply put, a higher exposure rate to the Covid-19 virus results in a higher infection rate and a lower efficacy, unless the vaccine is 100% effective.

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What a vaccine's "efficacy rate" actually means.

 . . .

In the US, the first two available Covid-19 vaccines were the ones from Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna. Both vaccines have very high "efficacy rates," of around 95%. But the third vaccine introduced in the US, from Johnson & Johnson, has a considerably lower efficacy rate: just 66%.

Look at those numbers next to each other, and it's natural to conclude that one of them is considerably worse. Why settle for 66% when you can have 95%? But that isn't the right way to understand a vaccine's efficacy rate, or even to understand what a vaccine does. And public health experts say that if you really want to know which vaccine is the best one, efficacy isn't actually the most important number at all.

 

 

Edited April 14, 2021 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Martin B]

3 hours ago, eseum said:

I've seen a number of articles now about the efficacy of the Chinese vaccines. I find it interesting that Chinese officials are now looking at producing a vaccine similar to the Phizer and Moderna vaccines, after dissing those. They are finally admitting that they are not getting the results needed with what they have already made. It's also becoming absurd with their policy for entry into China, with getting a Chinese vaccine that is only around 55% effective. I probably won't be traveling back to China any time soon, or probably future long term. if they keep this up.

I have no idea what (if?) they were thinking with that policy.

Anyways, it's still a non-starter for us as the two-week quarantine would still be required. Plus it's a huge hassle to get the go-ahead stateside to travel to China, requiring two COVID tests, as well as a trip to the consulate.

I still don't know what China's end game is. AFAIK their vaccination rollout has been fairly slow and my guess is very few people have any immunity to COVID due to having had the disease. It seems like China is happy to just wall-off the country indefinitely and make it very difficult for anyone to enter (including Chinese citizens).

[Randy W]

from the WSJ

China Plans to Approve First Foreign Covid-19 Vaccine by July
The final timing of Beijing’s decision to green light the BioNTech shot will depend in part on approval of Chinese vaccines abroad

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China is planning to approve its first foreign Covid-19 vaccine before July, according to people familiar with the matter, as pressure mounts from domestic scientists and the foreign business community to expand beyond the country’s own roster of shots.

Chinese officials have been scrutinizing clinical-trial data for the coronavirus vaccine made by Germany’s BioNTech SE and are expected to green light domestic distribution of the shot within the next 10 weeks, people privy to these discussions say. Some of the people were told of the timeline during a private discussion with government and health officials. The others were government officials briefed on the internal discussions.

Most of China’s shot makers cite trial data showing that their vaccines are close to 100% effective in preventing Covid-19 infections serious enough to require hospitalization when fully administered. But some Chinese public-health experts, including the head of China’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention, have pushed for the introduction of Western vaccines that are better at preventing milder infections.

Foreign businesses are eager to add Western vaccines to make it easier to travel overseas, where foreign shots are more accepted, according to Ker Gibbs, the president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai. The chamber has been urging the government to approve the BioNTech vaccine, which is being produced and distributed by Pfizer Inc. in most of the world, since December, he said.

BioNTech agreed in December to work with Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical Group Co. to deliver 100 million doses to China in 2021, pending approval.

The timetable for approval isn’t fixed, and the decision depends in part on approvals for Chinese vaccines abroad, according to some of the people familiar with the deliberations, suggesting the timing of the approval is being driven to a certain degree by politics.

The World Health Organization is reviewing vaccines by Chinese state-owned drugmaker Sinopharm and private Chinese company Sinovac Biotech Ltd. for possible emergency-use approval by early May, according to its most recent vaccine status report. The U.S. hasn’t approved any Chinese Covid-19 vaccines.

 . . .

China has approved four domestic vaccines for general use and one for emergency use. Despite having the virus under control, the country has been ramping up a vaccination drive that aims to get 40% of its population, or about 560 million people,  immunized by summer. While trying to vaccinate its own population, China has also exported more than 115 million doses this year, most to the developing world, according to data collected by science-analytics company Airfinity.

Part of the decision on BioNTech is motivated by the 2022 Winter Olympics, which are scheduled to take place in China in February. Beijing expects the majority of the athletes coming to the games to take the BioNTech shot, according to one of the people briefed on the discussions.

 

 

Edited April 17, 2021 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Randy W]

Notice posted in our complex, dated March 30. This is for the entire "Riverside Community"

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通知

各位居民朋友:
为有效建立全民免疫屏障,保护人民群众生命 安全,按照上级相关工作部署,江滨社区将于近期 开展新冠疫苗接种摸排登记工作,结合江滨社区实 际,相关登记工作如下:

一、登记时间:即日起至2021年4月1日前。
二、登记地点:各小区物业办公室、江滨社区 服务大厅
三、登记对象:

(1)18-59周岁居住江滨社区辖区的居民;
(2)60周岁及以上身体条件较好的老年人预约后 经接种单位充分评估健康状况后进行免费接种:
(3)未满18周岁的人员暂不安排预约接种(不限 户籍)

注意事项:

孕妇、哺乳期妇女,严重慢性病、过敏体质者, 发热或急性病期患者等人员不适合接种。

四、咨询电话:江滨社区3899158

登记完成后,具体接种时间、地点将根据上级 安排再另行通知。

南江街道江滨社区
2021年3月30日

 

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Notice

Dear residents, friends:
In order to effectively establish a universal immunization barrier and protect the lives of the people, in accordance with the relevant work arrangements of superiors, the Jiangbin community will carry out the new crown vaccination registration work in the near future. Combining the actual situation of the Jiangbin community, the relevant registration work is as follows:

1. Registration time: from now until April 1, 2021.
2. Registration location: each community property office, Jiangbin community service hall
Three, registration object:

(1) Residents aged 18-59 who live in the Jiangbin community area;
(2) Elderly people 60 years old and above in good physical condition will receive free vaccination after making an appointment and fully assessing their health status by the vaccination unit:
(3) Persons under the age of 18 will not schedule an appointment for vaccination (no household registration)

Precautions:

Pregnant women, breastfeeding women, people with severe chronic diseases, allergies, fever or patients with acute illness are not suitable for vaccination.

Fourth, consultation telephone: Jiangbin Community 3899158

After the registration is completed, the specific vaccination time and place will be notified separately according to the arrangement of the superior.

Jiangbin Community, Nanjiang Street
March 30 2021