Zhong Nanshan, Gao Fu, Wu Zunyou, Zhang Wenhong call for vaccination as soon as possible to achieve herd immunity

　　News from our newspaper (China Youth Daily and China Youth Daily reporter Ye Yuting) On the evening of March 1, Tsinghua University and the Brookings Institution jointly organized the "Right Track of Rapid Recovery: Sino-US Co-operation in the Prevention, Control and Treatment of the New Coronary Epidemic" forum, China-U.S. Top experts in the fields of public health and medicine discussed topics such as medicine and research cooperation, vaccine development and other topics.

Zhong Nanshan, leader of the high-level expert group of the National Health Commission, Gao Fu, director of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Wu Zunyou, chief epidemiologist of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, and Zhang Wenhong, leader of the Shanghai New Coronary Pneumonia Medical Treatment Expert Group, pointed out in the online discussion Therefore, more people must be vaccinated against the new crown as soon as possible so that herd immunity can be achieved as soon as possible and the epidemic can end as soon as possible.

　　Gao Fu said: "We should soon see a slowdown in the global number of confirmed cases. But key populations must be vaccinated as soon as possible, including medical personnel, public health professionals, etc. The more people are vaccinated , The sooner we reach herd immunity, I personally think this is the most important factor."

　　"In addition, there are many different variables in virus changes. When we talk about'when can we return to normal', I think it will never be possible to return to the previous'normal'. However, we will enter The "normal" state is quite close, and maybe this stage can be reached next summer." Gao Fu said.

　　Zhong Nanshan said: "The most important thing now is that the vaccine should be vaccinated as soon as possible and the more people vaccinated, the better. The longer the vaccination takes, the more likely there are more mutant strains, so this is very important."

　　Zhong Nanshan revealed that in June this year, China's new crown vaccination rate plans to reach 40%.

　　Zhong Nanshan said that in order to restore the economy, resume schools, and gradually resume social activities, the entire country cannot be closed for a long time. Therefore, it is necessary to form herd immunity.

“Hudden immunity cannot be achieved by making a large number of people sick. It must be based on science and vaccination to achieve this goal. From a global perspective, Israel’s vaccinated population accounts for the highest proportion of the total population at 92.46%. More than 60% in the UAE, 30% in the UK, 22% in the United States, but only 3.56% in China." Zhong Nanshan said.

　　Wu Zunyou said that the coverage rate of the vaccine determines the direction of the epidemic.

"We can see that the spread of the global epidemic has gradually slowed since mid-January. The future development direction of the epidemic depends on three factors, including the measures taken by various countries, the coverage of vaccines, and the protection of vaccines. People how long."

　　Zhang Wenhong said that the world must further accelerate the speed of vaccination.

"In terms of global vaccination, as of mid-February 2021, the United States and the United Kingdom have reached 30% vaccine coverage. However, the current global vaccination is very uneven. Only in Europe and America, as well as China and Russia. Countries that are capable of producing vaccines may achieve the effect of herd immunity. Therefore, in this regard, we must carry out global cooperation that transcends political constraints."

　　Zhang Wenhong pointed out: "Because the Chinese people are well protected, there is an'immune gap'. Even if 40% of the population is vaccinated in June, it is still less than half of the total population of our country. This is my concern."

　　Zhang Wenhong explained that the "immune gap" means that if other countries around the world do not carry out epidemic prevention and control well, China will always be exposed to the risk of the epidemic and will always be affected by imported cases.

　　Source: China Youth Daily