Covid-19 in China

[Randy W]

Moderna and China at impasse over mRNA COVID vaccine

by Richard Daverman
Friday, October 7, 2022  4:29 am

 

Moderna is ‘eager’ to sell its mRNA vaccine in China but balks at the idea of transferring its technology or building a manufacturing facility in the country.

from BioProcess International

The conditions being imposed by China are: Moderna must sign up with a China-based partner, transferring all its technology to the China company and allowing the China company to make the drug, or the company must build a China manufacturing facility, again with a China partner, which would not involve a technology transfer.

Quote

 

The conditions being imposed by China are: Moderna must sign up with a China-based partner, transferring all its technology to the China company and allowing the China company to make the drug, or the company must build a China manufacturing facility, again with a China partner, which would not involve a technology transfer.

Either way, Moderna assumes it would lose effective control of its intellectual property, which it refuses to do, citing worries that its reputation would suffer if a partner produced unsafe/lower quality vaccines.

Image: DepositPhotos/
chexaru9975@gmail.com

After discussing the issues in 2020 and 2021, Moderna decided that no compromise acceptable to both parties was going to happen and backed away from the negotiations.

Moderna is clearly protective of its technology. It recently went to court against Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech, alleging that their partnered COVID vaccine violated Moderna’s mRNA patents of 2010 and 2016. That’s a story that will probably take years to resolve itself, given the enormously high stakes and usual duration of complicated patent disputes.

For its part, China seems adamant about keeping all ex-China COVID vaccines out of China. Fosun, which scored an early deal with BioNTech (before Pfizer signed on), has never been granted approval in China for its mRNA COVID vaccine.

On the face of it, BioNTech signed up with a China partner to produce and commercialize the vaccine in the mainland, which satisfies China’s stated requirements for approval of a foreign vaccine. It’s possible the Fosun deal did not contain an IP transfer – it wasn’t discussed in the official announcements – but Fosun did agree to build a production facility in China.

In fact, China has not approved any foreign COVID-19 vaccines and relies on several domestically developed shots. Because these products are not based on an mRNA technology, they don’t have the higher-than-expected 90% efficacy of the Moderna-Pfizer vaccines.

“We would certainly be very eager to collaborate with China if they felt that there was a need for a vaccine there,” said Moderna chief medical officer Paul Burton last month. “Currently, there is no activity going on, but we’d be very open to it.”

There is at least one more twist to this story. Last week, Moderna established a subsidiary in Taiwan which will make it easier for the company to collaborate with the nation’s private and public sectors, as well as academia. Separately, starting in September, Taiwan has received four shipments of Moderna’s next-generation COVID-19 vaccine targeting the BA.4 and BA.5 Omicron subvariants of SARS-CoV-2. Taiwan’s clinics began administering the doses on September 24.

 

 

Edited October 16, 2022 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Randy W]

How ordinary people in China view the country’s ‘dynamic zero-Covid’ policy

China’s “dynamic zero-Covid” strategy has greatly affected people’s lives and businesses. How do people view the policy?

from the SCMP on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/scmp/videos/636227881304349/

[Randy W]

The ship has already sailed on determining the true origins of the COVID virus, but people are still looking into it.

COVID-19 Origins: Investigating a “Complex and Grave Situation” Inside a Wuhan Lab
The Wuhan lab at the center of suspicions about the pandemic’s onset was far more troubled than known, documents unearthed by a Senate team reveal. Tracing the evidence, Vanity Fair and ProPublica give the clearest view yet of a biocomplex in crisis.

by Katherine Eban, Vanity Fair, and Jeff Kao, ProPublica
Oct. 28, 12:45 p.m. EDT

from ProPublica

Researcher Toy Reid sits before a timeline chronicling the lead-up to the pandemic at the Hart Senate Office Building in Washington. Credit:Mark Peterson/Redux for Vanity Fair

 

Quote

 

“A Secret Language of Chinese Officialdom”

Party speak is “its own lexicon,” explains Reid, now 44 years old. Even a native Mandarin speaker “can’t really follow it,” he says. “It’s not meant to be easily understood. It’s almost like a secret language of Chinese officialdom. When they’re talking about anything potentially embarrassing, they speak of it in innuendo and hushed tones, and there’s a certain acceptable way to allude to something.”

For 15 months, Reid loaned this unusual skill to a nine-person team dedicated to investigating the mystery of COVID-19’s origins. Commissioned by Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., the team examined voluminous evidence, most of it open source but some classified, and weighed the major credible theories for how the novel coronavirus first made the leap to humans. An interim report, released on Thursday by the minority oversight staff of the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions (HELP), concludes that the COVID-19 pandemic was “more likely than not, the result of a research-related incident.”

As part of his investigation, Reid took an approach that was artful in its simplicity. Working out of the Hart Senate Office Building in Washington and a family home in Florida, he used a virtual private network, or VPN, to access dispatches archived on the website of the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV). These dispatches remain on the internet, but their meaning can’t be unlocked by just anyone. Using his hard-earned expertise, Reid believes he unearthed secrets that were hiding in plain sight.

 

 

 

[Randy W]

More quotes:

 

Quote

 

As Reid burrowed into the party branch dispatches, he became riveted by the unfolding picture. They described intense pressure to produce scientific breakthroughs that would elevate China’s standing on the world stage, despite a dire lack of essential resources. Even at the BSL-4 lab, they repeatedly lamented the problem of “the three ‘nos’: no equipment and technology standards, no design and construction teams, and no experience operating or maintaining [a lab of this caliber].”

And then, in the fall of 2019, the dispatches took a darker turn. They referenced inhumane working conditions and “hidden safety dangers.” On Nov. 12 of that year, a dispatch by party branch members at the BSL-4 laboratory appeared to reference a biosecurity breach.

once you have opened the stored test tubes, it is just as if having opened Pandora’s Box. These viruses come without a shadow and leave without a trace. Although [we have] various preventive and protective measures, it is nevertheless necessary for lab personnel to operate very cautiously to avoid operational errors that give rise to dangers. Every time this has happened, the members of the Zhengdian Lab [BSL4] Party Branch have always run to the frontline, and they have taken real action to mobilize and motivate other research personnel.

 

Reid studied the words intently. Was this a reference to past accidents? An admission of an ongoing crisis? A general recognition of hazardous practices? Or all of the above? Reading between the lines, Reid concluded, “They are almost saying they know Beijing is about to come down and scream at them.”

And that, in fact, is exactly what happened next, according to a meeting summary uploaded nine days later.

The dozens of pages of WIV dispatches that Reid unearthed, particularly those from November 2019, helped shape the conclusion of the interim report. Working out of a small, windowless room in the Hart building that they nicknamed “the Bat Cave,” the researchers cross-referenced Reid’s analysis with myriad clues, from procurement notices and patent filings to records of ongoing scientific experiments at the WIV. As their investigation grew, so did a timeline that unfolded across the walls like a giant checkerboard.

 

 

[Randy W]

Chinese workers flee world’s largest iPhone factory after Covid outbreak

Workers were seen fleeing the world’s largest iPhone assembly factory in China after a Covid outbreak.

from the SCMP on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/scmp/videos/1330531154152488/

[Randy W]

Zhengzhou Foxconn Factory: 10,000+ workers flee covid lockdown/Apple iPhone Production Plunges

Foxconn Zhengzhou is one of Apple Inc.'s largest foundries in Asia, with a peak workforce of 300,000 employees at one point. From Oct. 29th to 30th, a large number of employees broke out of the plant after a fierce clash between the employees and the anti-epidemic workers. Some employees told overseas Chinese media that they witnessed batches of workers being hauled away from the dorm and quarantined. It’s exposed that abnormalities are found in the nucleic acid test results of nearly 20,000 people who are quarantined in an Evergrande's rotten-tail building. Once workers are placed in quarantine, they are left unattended, without medical care or food.
All these have scared the remaining workers. First, they are still afraid that they will be dragged away for quarantine; second, they are also afraid that the number of positive cases in Foxconn factories will continue to increase, and that eventually they will be infected. 

Covid-19: China imposes lockdown on 600,000 people in area around world’s largest iPhone factory
All people except Covid-prevention volunteers and essential workers “must not leave their residences except to receive Covid tests and emergency medical treatment”, officials from central China’s Zhengzhou Airport Economy Zone said.

from the HKFP

Quote

 

 . . .

But new variants have tested local officials’ ability to snuff out flare-ups faster than they can spread, causing much of the country to live under an ever-changing mosaic of Covid curbs.

The district in Zhengzhou city said Wednesday that all businesses would be required to work from home, with only “key enterprises” allowed to continue operating. It did not specify which businesses fell under that category.

Only medical vehicles and those delivering essentials are allowed on the streets.

The district’s more than 600,000 residents will have to take nucleic acid tests every day, the local government said, warning that it would “resolutely crack down on all kinds of violations”.

The Communist Party-run Dahe Daily said on Wednesday local authorities would “thoroughly disinfect” Foxconn’s facilities, including employee dormitories, over the next three days. Workers quarantining at the factory would need to show seven days of negative tests before leaving for their hometowns.

The paper also said the government had promised to provide timely meals and to set up a counselling hotline for workers.

 

 

[Randy W]

A trip to Shanghai Disneyland results in QUARANTINES!

I WAS TAKEN TO A QUARANTINE HOTEL IN CHINA!!

After another day of waiting, I finally got some news... Good or bad? Wait and see...

 

[Randy W]

Workers in Foxconn’s mega-factory, which employs some 200,000 people, started fleeing the manufacturing complex Saturday, as COVID-19 lockdown measures in the world’s largest iPhone assembly plant left many grappling with inadequate living conditions.

from the Sixth Tone on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/sixthtone/posts/pfbid0MAnvrFJjtmJhphK6qhZUKdspFH7uXsYuFpBQd5CxLbo6DR2VYR8tNCoeEtCdkvfzl

Authorities Intervene to Curb COVID Chaos at Foxconn Factory
Hundreds of workers in Zhengzhou were seen fleeing their workplace on foot and accused the company of handling the coronavirus outbreak poorly.

Foxconn workers wait for buses by a street in Zhengzhou, Oct. 30, 2022. VCG

Quote

 

Authorities said they have cooperated with Taiwan-headquartered Foxconn to arrange personnel and vehicles to transport workers willing to return home by following proper procedures, according to a statement from the epidemic prevention office in Zhengzhou Airport Economy Zone, which oversees the factory.

“For those wanting to return home, the enterprise should fully respect their wishes and sufficiently communicate with them based on voluntary principles,” the notice said, urging Foxconn to strengthen accommodation, testing, and other care services for those staying in the factory.

 . . .

Posts revealing the shortage of food and other necessities in Foxconn’s factory started emerging on social media platforms last week in an echo of similar situations in the cities of Xining and Guiyang recently.

Lin Xiang, a Foxconn worker who used a pseudonym for fear of retaliation, told Sixth Tone that he has witnessed several infections in the dormitories, but he was asked to continue working amid the outbreak.

 

 

[Randy W]

Death of 3-year-old boy in China sparks outrage over continuing zero-Covid lockdowns

 

 

[Randy W]

The father, surnamed Tuo, is said to have called ambulance services and the police to seek help at least nine times in less than an hour after finding his wife and son unconscious in the kitchen, but was unable to get an urgent response.

from the Sixth Tone on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/sixthtone/posts/pfbid022225rTQoWq7CHH7mvXDsN6DVKURY1WhtTKhGkJMRA95oEfxiozeRnLooAr8WA9hl

A 3-Year-Old’s Death During Lanzhou Lockdown Spurs Investigation
Questions arise over the delayed response of first responders and the role of community workers amid COVID-19 restrictions.

COVID-19 control workers sanitize a car in Lanzhou, Gansu province, July 25, 2022. Li Yalong/CNS/VCG

Quote

 

The child died following a delayed response by emergency and community workers who had blocked the exit of a residential building under a COVID-19 lockdown, which impeded his father trying to rush him to a hospital, domestic media Caixin reported Wednesday. The father, surnamed Tuo, is said to have called ambulance services and the police to seek help at least nine times in less than an hour after finding his wife and son unconscious in the kitchen, but was unable to get an urgent response.

Tuo then smashed the lockdown barriers while holding his son, who was still breathing by then, before hailing a cab, according to Caixin. However, the child died after reaching the hospital, which was a 10-minute drive from their apartment.

Local police said Tuesday that the three-year-old died from carbon monoxide poisoning, while Tuo’s wife had been hospitalized and later discharged.

The tragedy unleashed an outpouring of grief and outrage online, with many once again underscoring the lack of access to medical services during the relentless lockdowns. Similar incidents resulting in deaths due to delayed treatments and hospitals refusing patients because of COVID protocols in cities such as Xi’an and Shanghai have prompted authorities to do better, though it has not stopped such incidents from occurring again.

 

 

[Randy W]

Nearly three years into the pandemic, many of China’s local governments are facing eye-watering fiscal deficits and implementing austerity measures. And those cuts are hitting civil servants hard. 

“The grassroots staff and the families who are not very well-off have really suffered a blow,” a local official in Guangdong told Sixth Tone.

from the Sixth Tone on Facebook 
https://www.facebook.com/1570821646570023/posts/pfbid02MUhgAGBciH1cB9a1dLi2hxWW9ZLeGqd4R6KzzBac6LHt5N6QF6CwwFgaPCzd5bJQl/

For Young Chinese, Even State Sector Jobs Are No Longer a Safe Bet
Chinese graduates rushed to join the civil service during the pandemic, hoping to find security amid a turbulent economy. Now, many are facing steep pay cuts — and looking for a way out.

A promotional poster for a civil service center in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, 2020. An Fu/VCG

Quote

 

Millions of young Chinese have made the same calculation during the pandemic, as strict “zero-COVID” measures cause unprecedented economic disruption. Graduates have applied for the civil service exam in record numbers, hoping to secure access to the state’s “iron rice bowl.”

Wang faced nearly 100 other applicants for the position, a junior role at a small township in the eastern city of Suzhou. He was bursting with pride when he heard he’d won out.

Yet, just two years later, Wang is already disillusioned with life in the state sector — and looking for a way out.

“I’ve actually found another job,” says Wang, who spoke with Sixth Tone using a pseudonym for privacy reasons. “But I’m still hesitating — my family doesn’t support me jumping out of the civil service.”

The problem is that the public sector hasn’t lived up to its reputation of being a safe haven. Nearly three years into the pandemic, many of China’s local governments are facing eye-watering fiscal deficits and implementing austerity measures. And those cuts are hitting civil servants hard.

Wang had originally expected to earn at least 250,000 yuan ($34,600) per year at his new job. In reality, he estimates he’s being paid just 160,000 yuan. His basic salary has been cut by 30%; his social insurance payments haven’t risen as promised; part of his annual bonus has never been paid.

 . . .

Local deficits in many areas have ballooned to worrying levels. During the first eight months of the year, local governments’ financial self-sufficiency fell to 51.7%, the lowest level in more than a decade, domestic media reported.

“This situation is already very critical,” Wu Muluan, an associate professor at the National University of Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, tells Sixth Tone. “Local finances are like a dry river.”

China’s central government has agreed to transfer extra funding to local authorities, but this hasn’t been enough to make up the shortfall. That has forced local officials all over the country to take drastic measures to balance the books.

 

Edited November 7, 2022 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Randy W]

Wall Street Silver

@WallStreetSilv

China keeps expanding their isolation camps… In Hunan Province they were in a hurry and built the camp right on the highway… They don’t need the roads if the population will be locked-up in isolation camps… All in the name of safety and well-being of course… music ..

 

China keeps expanding their isolation camps…

In Hunan Province they were in a hurry and built the camp right on the highway… They don’t need the roads if the population will be locked-up in isolation camps…

All in the name of safety and well-being of course…

🔊music ..😰 pic.twitter.com/9mXtGFpDkU

— Wall Street Silver (@WallStreetSilv) November 7, 2022

 

[Randy W]

see Health Alert -- U.S. Mission in China, Beijing (November 9, 2022) (CFL Topic)

from AmericanCitizensinChina@state.gov

Quote

 

Health Alert – U.S. Mission in China, Beijing (November 9, 2022)

Location:  Countrywide

Event:  The quickly changing COVID-19 situation and significant “zero-COVID” policy restrictions around the People’s Republic of China (PRC)

 

 

[Randy W]

China’s zero-Covid policy under pressure as infections rise in major cities

Covid-19 infections have been rising sharply in China despite increasingly intense controls, testing and lockdowns.

from the SCMP on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/scmp/videos/1807791466241168/

[Randy W]

see recent news concerning both international  arrivals and travel within China (CFL topic)

http://candleforlove.com/forums/topic/50279-can-you-get-into-china/page/2/#comment-650223