Winter Olympics and Chinese New Years 2022

[danb]

So next year the Chinese New Years is on February 1, and the Beijing's Winter Olympics  runs from Feb. 4 thru Feb. 20.  There should be a lot of domestic traveling in China all month long.  I wonder if travel restrictions will be loosen up for foreigners traveling to China for the month(s) leading up to February 2022.  Any indications or notices being given?   What do you guys think? Danb.

[Randy W]

I think they have two conflicting hard and fast goals here - one to keep the country sealed away from the pandemic, the other to ensure that the Olympics proceeds without a hitch. How the first will morph into the second remains to be seen.

The only thing I see at the moment is China making overtures toward international co-acceptance of vaccinations. With countries like India, Nepal, and Brazil experiencing the levels of the virus that they are, China may find it difficult to open up.

Basically, I think China opening up heavily depends on what happens in other countries.

[Martin B]

11 hours ago, Randy W said:

I think they have two conflicting hard and fast goals here - one to keep the country sealed away from the pandemic, the other to ensure that the Olympics proceeds without a hitch. How the first will morph into the second remains to be seen.

The only thing I see at the moment is China making overtures toward international co-acceptance of vaccinations. With countries like India, Nepal, and Brazil experiencing the levels of the virus that they are, China may find it difficult to open up.

Basically, I think China opening up heavily depends on what happens in other countries.

This is a good point. I really do wonder what China's end game is and if they will ever truly open up in the next 1-3 years.  If we go by the official word, then very few people in China have any immunity to COVID. The vaccine rollout has been slow, and at least one of the Chinese vaccine's efficacy has been called into question. This means that even a few cracks in the Great Seal could cause another major outbreak.

The biggest issue IMO will be the quarantine. I just don't see it going away anytime soon, even for vaccinated travelers. Right now it's 14 days upon arrival + 7 days at the final destination?? For anyone but citizens or permanent residents, it makes traveling to China a total non-starter.

 

[danb]

      I have a strong guess that the Olympics is important to China.  They must have invested a lot of money into it.  They also probably don't want to miss an opportunity to show China off.  But the corona definitely have gotten in the way.  What to do?  One thing would be to get her people vaccinated before the Olympics.  Do they have enough time?   I would think so.  Do they have enough supplies?  I don't about that.  Do they have an organization that could get their people vaccinated?.  I think so.  Are there problems and issues?  I sure there are.

   If they are able to reach the level where herd immunity is effective, wouldn't they be able to open her gates to her country and welcome the world to the 2022 Winter Olympics?  Yes.  I hope so. It is a good point about the quarantine.  I didn't think about that.  Would they accept vaccination passports?  Perhaps that could help.  I am hoping a solution is found.  Danb

[Randy W]

Exactly - but there is also the issue of efficacy of their vaccine. I was just reading about the Seychelles, where 60% have been vaccinated, most with the Sinopharm vaccine. They now have a higher per capita rate of infections than even India.

from the WaPo

Why the world’s most vaccinated country is seeing an unprecedented spike in coronavirus cases

Quote

 

Government data released this week found that of 1,068 active cases, around 65 percent involved residents who were either completely unvaccinated or had received only one dose.

Francis emphasized that even people who have been vaccinated can get infected. “Vaccines are very effective at preventing serious illness and death; they are less good at preventing infection,” Francis said.

So far, the number of deaths in the Seychelles attributed to the virus is relatively low — 28 out of more than 6,000 cases. But the surge in new cases may also confirm that the vaccines being used in the country have comparatively low effectiveness.

Roughly 60 percent of the doses administered in Seychelles are vaccines made by the Chinese company Sinopharm that were donated to the Seychelles by the United Arab Emirates. The remaining doses are of the vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and produced by the Serum Institute of India.

 . . .

Jennifer Huang Bouey, an epidemiologist who works with the Rand Corp., estimated that given what was known about the Seychelles’ vaccine rollout and the vaccines used, less than 49 percent of the population could be assumed to have immunity conferred by vaccines.

“Less than half of the population is protected by the vaccine,” Huang Bouey said. “It is still far below the community-level protection requirement.”

 

Meanwhile, China is even roping off the summit of Mt. Everest to keep the climbers from Nepal separate from the climbers from China

Edited May 11, 2021 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Randy W]

This just in - Chinese Firm Signs Deal to Produce Pfizer-BioNTech Vaccine

(A CFL link - the article about the Everest Covid divide is the post right before)

[danb]

Some more good news, from the Washington Post. :

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/china-vaccine-passport-visas-covid/2021/04/20/8a6422d0-a14e-11eb-8a6d-f1b55f463112_story.html

Maybe the gates are starting crack open a wee bit.