Gao Fu: The game between virus mutation and the immune system is like a "cat and mouse game", and we must have confidence in vaccines

Beijing News Express (reporter Chen Lin) on September 25, Gao Fu, academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and director of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said that since humans can isolate the virus, 7 coronaviruses that can infect humans have been found. The game between virus mutation and the human immune system is like a "cat and mouse game", and everyone must have confidence in the vaccine.

On September 25, the 2021 Zhongguancun Forum's second Global Science and Life and Health Parallel Forum was held. Gao Fu said at the forum that ordinary people may think that the new crown epidemic is a "black swan", but for professionals, the new crown epidemic is a "gray rhinoceros" and it is possible. "I am a member of the Global Pandemic Response Monitoring Committee, and its 2019 annual meeting report suggested that influenza viruses and coronaviruses will be the two most serious viruses that will cause a pandemic in humans in the future."

Gao Fu said that the virus has so many mutations and so many names, but the vaccine can provide basic immunity and reduce the burden of disease, "that is, it may be a little worse to prevent infection, but the effect of preventing severe and preventing death is obvious." Everyone should have confidence in the vaccine. ”

Coronavirus variants are constantly emerging, and these variant strains have different characteristics – speed of transmission, pathogenicity, immune escape, etc. Gao Fu believes that sharing vaccines around the world should be part of the solution to ensure that all countries have access to and use COVID-19 vaccines on a large scale, and that a united response to the COVID-19 pandemic is an important strategy to prevent the spread of the virus around the world.

Beijing News reporter Chen Lin

Edited by Bai Shuang Proofreader Wu Xingfa