Are there any unvaccinated elderly people in your home?
Have you been notified of intensive vaccinations, but haven't had time to go yet?
Are you still struggling with whether you are "not suitable" for vaccinations?
Don't hesitate to get vaccinated!
The new crown vaccine can really save lives
Let's start with a set of data:
According to the latest information provided by the Hong Kong Department of Health, as of 00:00 on April 17, 2022, the number of deaths from COVID-19 in the fifth wave of the epidemic in Hong Kong is 8926, of which 8579 are ≥ 60 years old, accounting for 96.1%.
In more detailed statistics in the middle of the epidemic, Hong Kong is in the midst of the epidemic
In the face of the rapidly spreading Omikeron, the relative risk of the elderly is high and there is an urgent need for a life-saving means.
Let's look at another set of data:
Image source: Preliminary data analysis of COVID-19 death reports
Spin down Hong Kong's death data from the perspective of COVID-19 vaccination:
The population-wide case fatality rate for unvaccinated against COVID-19 is 2.97%;
The number of people who received one injection dropped to 0.97%;
Completion of two doses of inoculation was further reduced to 0.16%;
The case fatality rate of three doses is only 0.04% ;( 1/74 of unvaccinated)
There was not a single death in people under 30 years of age who completed three doses.
Also in more detailed statistics in the mid-term of the outbreak, in the Hong Kong outbreak, the relative risk of death among people aged ≥ 60 years old was 21.3 times that of those who received ≥ 2 doses of vaccine, and 2.3 times that of those who received 1 dose of vaccine.
This life-saving means is the vaccine!
Hong Kong, which has experienced a round of Omicron baptism, once again tells us at the cost of life: without vaccine protection, without sufficient strengthening of vaccine protection, we, especially the elderly, are still equivalent to running naked in the epidemic.
Getting covid-19 vaccinations – especially booster shots – is the most effective way to avoid severe COVID-19 and death.
The epidemic in Shanghai is still in the upward fermentation period, and the relevant data may lag behind, but it can also be seen.
According to the data reported at the press conference on the 17th, there are currently 16 severe cases in Shanghai, of which the youngest case is 33 years old, and the others are over 70 years old. Of all severe cases, only 1 person was fully vaccinated against COVID-19, while the rest were unvaccinated.
On the 18th, 3 deaths were reported, all of whom were about 90 years old.
The benefits of covid-19 vaccination today outweigh the disadvantages
There are many different reasons why so many people have not been vaccinated. Concerns about adverse vaccine reactions can be an important aspect of this.
It is true that the research and development of the new crown vaccine is an unprecedented "express train", although it has also undergone clinical trials under the scientific system, but the time is short, and everyone is still full of doubts about the possible unknown, which is also the common sentiment of people.
Especially in the previous two years, China's epidemic prevention adopted a strict prevention and import route, and strict management made China one of the countries with fewer new coronaviruses in the world. Only intermittent local outbreaks have emerged. If the physical defense is done well, we have no chance of exposure to the virus at all, and the vaccine does not seem to help much, then even the slightest possible "drawback" does not want to be ignored.
Therefore, there is a clear vaccine reserve, and there are constant "incentives", but many people just have to "wait and see". Hong Kong, which has more diverse COVID-19 vaccine options than the mainland, is also unsatisfactory, especially for the elderly.
Vaccination in Hong Kong 'stalled' before the outbreak
Image source: ourworldindata
The situation is completely different.
In the face of the explosive Omilon, especially the Omilon BA.2, each of us has a greater probability of being quietly exposed to the virus. The profits from using vaccine protection suddenly multiplied. Re-weigh the pros and cons, and the results are obvious.
The benefits of these drawbacks are small, in fact, whether from clinical trials or examples of vaccination in the past two years, the drawbacks are also minimal.
The first thing to say is that there is no 100% guarantee that there are no side effects, and the same is true of the adverse reactions of vaccines. Don't resist vaccination on the grounds that it's not 100% safe.
Hundreds of millions of people have been vaccinated against COVID-19 in ≥ 60 years old, and the data show that the incidence of adverse reactions in the elderly is slightly lower than that of young people. Although there are very few cases of more serious adverse reactions after vaccination, according to Wang Huaqing, chief expert of the immunization program of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the probability of serious adverse reactions is about one in a million.
For vaccine-related abnormal reactions that are not excluded, the mainland also has a sound insurance system to bear the related diagnosis and treatment costs.
Not only in China, a variety of COVID-19 vaccines used in the mainland have also confirmed the good safety of the elderly and patients with comorbid chronic diseases in phase III clinical studies and a large number of real-world studies in other countries.
Of course, before vaccination, the medical staff will also fully assess the health status of the recipient, as long as the recent physical condition and medication information is informed to the medical staff at the vaccination site, the medical staff will give advice on whether it can be vaccinated. Never judge for yourself that a vaccine is not suitable.
Strive to overcome the real-life difficulties of vaccination
In addition to concerns about the possible drawbacks of the COVID-19 vaccine, there are a number of other factors that affect vaccination.
First of all, the elderly do not have enough awareness of vaccine prevention.
Because vaccines don't see immediate results, older adults rarely incorporate vaccinations as part of a healthy lifestyle. There are also practical difficulties in vaccinate the elderly. "I don't go out again" and "I'm old anyway" are often the reasons for refusing vaccines.
But today's COVID-19 pandemic is a global event, and in addition to the elderly themselves, vaccination is also a help to the loved ones around them. Recognize the benefits of active vaccination for society as a whole. The society should also continue to do a good job in popularizing science, strengthen routine vaccine education, and provide convenient conditions such as door-to-door vaccination.
Secondly, the perception of medical staff also needs to be updated.
Medical staff, out of professional habit, will be more cautious about the use of vaccines, and pay great attention to the adequacy and rigor of the evidence. If the latest research information on the vaccine does not reach clinical and public health medical personnel in a timely manner, this situation may affect the progress of vaccination work to some extent.
At present, the domestic COVID-19 vaccination guidelines are still in the March 2021 version, and some issues are not clear enough, such as the perspective of patients with chronic diseases, only saying that "people with chronic diseases with stable health and good drug control are not contraindicated to new crown virus vaccination, and it is recommended to vaccinate." How to judge "stability" is not clear, and it also affects the vaccination of a large number of chronic diseases and cancer recovery people.
Image source: Breast Cancer COVID-19 Vaccination Consensus
This phenomenon is gradually changing, and various medical societies have included COVID-19 vaccination instructions in the formulation of disease diagnosis and treatment guidelines, or formulated relevant consensus, giving more specific guidelines to encourage vaccination. It is also hoped that the official technical guidelines for COVID-19 vaccination in future countries will summarize updated research evidence and give a new version that is more specific and more instructive for medical personnel to implement.
Finally, a flood of false news also increases distrust.
The world is facing similar problems, and there are even diseases that have resurged due to false news leading to a decline in vaccination. Professional institutions and each of us should strengthen the management and clarification of rumors, strengthen the promotion of adverse reaction treatment programs and the effectiveness of vaccines, and reduce all kinds of distrust.
The right message can be widely disseminated to allay more people's concerns and increase vaccination rates.
Vaccination status: The elderly are seriously inadequate in reinforcing needles
If you only look at the total data of vaccinations on the mainland, it is still good. According to ourworldindata, as of April 11, 88.6% of the mainland population had completed at least one dose of vaccination, and 86.2% of the population had completed two basic vaccinations, ahead of most countries such as Japan and the United States.
But there is a problem at the moment: we mainly vaccinate young people. Vaccination of the elderly, especially intensive vaccination, is severely inadequate.
At the press conference on joint prevention and control on April 12, 2022, Lei Zhenglong, deputy director of the Disease Control Bureau of the National Health Commission and a first-level inspector, introduced Shuo that as of April 11, 213.293 million people over the age of 60 in the mainland had completed the full vaccination of 213.293 million people and completed the intensification of immunization of 150.761 million people.
Simply calculated, at present, about 82% of the elderly in the country have completed the full vaccination, and about 58% of the elderly have completed the intensive vaccination, which seems that the proportion is not low, but it is lower than the average population. In terms of quantity, there are still more than 50 million elderly people who have no vaccine protection at all, and if they are exposed to the virus at once like the elderly in Hong Kong, there will be millions of deaths.
As of April 15, 62% of the COVID-19 vaccines for people aged 60 and over in Shanghai have been vaccinated, and only 38% have completed intensive injections.
Older people are even more severely underdog. In the figures disclosed on March 17, less than 20 percent of people over the age of 80 were vaccinated intensively.
Older people in Singapore are not at all less vaccinated than young people, close to 100%
Image source: Singapore Ministry of Health
Most European countries, like Sweden, are more vaccinated by the elderly
Image source: outworldindata
This kind of vaccination in China is "upside down", and the serious lack of vaccination for the elderly makes our otherwise good vaccination figures look dim.
The people who should be protected the most in the face of the epidemic are not protected by vaccines.
We don't want to be like Hong Kong, until the epidemic hits and the public sees a large number of deaths of elderly patients, and then make up for it and make up for it in a short period of time.
In addition to the elderly, many previous vaccination "contraindication groups", such as children, pregnant women, chronic disease patients, etc., are gradually liberalizing or will be released in the future with more research, so that the protection of vaccines will be extended to more people.
Hesitation is better than action
Today's new crown epidemic, the risk of severe illness and death does not seem to be high, but the continuous virus mutation, stronger and more hidden transmission, let us always be at risk, absolutely can not be ignored. Not to mention that the new crown virus is also difficult to talk about mild, and it has still caused a certain number of deaths under strict protection.
The low vaccination rate is the biggest shortcoming in China's epidemic prevention chain. It is worth our energy.
In order to provide more effective protection against the invasion of the new crown virus, the state is also actively promoting the new crown variant vaccine based on different technology platforms, multivalent vaccines, etc., in the future, I believe that more effective vaccines will be continuously introduced and launched, and we can get safer and more efficient vaccines to get greater and stronger protection.
However, this does not affect the first vaccination of existing vaccines. Of course, you can compare white shoes and black shoes, which is more comfortable and better for foot protection, but it is better to walk barefoot on the cobblestone road, first put on a pair of shoes and then say.
On the evening of April 14, the Chinese Society for Cell Biology, a subsidiary of the Chinese Association for Science and Technology, launched a "Proposal on Increasing the Proportion of COVID-19 Vaccination and Strengthening the Injection Ratio of the Elderly", calling for the dynamic clearance of the elderly to do their best to increase the vaccination rate of the elderly, especially to strengthen the vaccination rate.
Wu Jinglei, director of the Shanghai Health Commission, also stressed at a press conference on April 17 that eligible Elderly Shanghai should be vaccinated as soon as possible after the community is unsealed and the nearby vaccination points are opened.
We have won the first half of the epidemic prevention war, in the face of the sudden change of the epidemic situation, we cannot let our efforts be wasted, and the shortcomings should be made up as soon as possible.
All those who meet the vaccination requirements, go get the COVID-19 vaccine!
From a small point of view, this is to protect yourself;
A little older, this is to protect the children, protect the family, protect the neighbors, so that they can get back to normal life faster;
A larger perspective, which is a precious window of time to cherish the huge costs brought by the country and society, can make the country safer in the tide of the epidemic and have more confidence to take more optimized measures to deal with the impact of the epidemic on society.
This article is reviewed by experts
bibliography
[1] Dallas J. Smith, Avi J. Hakim, Gabriel M. Leung, Wenbo Xu, W. William Schluter, Ryan T. Novak, Barbara Marston, Bradley S. Hersh. COVID-19 Mortality and Vaccine Coverage — Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China, January 6, 2022–March 21, 2022[J]. China CDC Weekly, 2022, 4(14): 288-292. doi: 10.46234/ccdcw2022.071
Xu Ruonan, Nie Jianyun, Wang Tao, et al. Chinese expert consensus on COVID-19 vaccination for breast cancer patients[J]. Infectious Disease Information, Vol. 34, Issue 6, 2021, pp. 481-484, ISTIC, 2022:Beijing Science and Technology Program.
[3] Centre for Health Protection and Hospital Authority, Department of Health, Hong Kong: Preliminary data analysis of COVID-19 death reports
[4] Centre for Health Protection and Hospital Authority, Department of Health, Hong Kong: 2019 WAVE 5 data
[5] Vaccine Administration Law of the People's Republic of China
Planning and production
Curator: Eric | Executive Producer: Feidi
Cover image source: Stand Cool Helo