China's COVID-19 vaccination is likely to reach more than 80% by the end of the year.
On November 5th, at the 4th Hongqiao International Economic Forum "National Health and Harmonious Economic and Social Development: New Ideas and New Kinetic Energy Sub-Forum", Zhong Nanshan, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and winner of the "Order of the Republic", made the above statement in a video speech. He also said that in response to the new crown epidemic, China has achieved a stage of victory.
According to data from the National Health Commission, as of November 4, 2021, China's 31 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government) and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps have reported a cumulative total of 2,302.679 million doses of covid-19 vaccine.
"However, from a global point of view, the global epidemic situation is still very severe, and more efforts need to be made in scientific research and prevention." Zhong Nanshan said that the fight against the new crown epidemic requires global cooperation, contributing to China's strength and making positive contributions to building a community of human health.
The dilemma facing countries around the globe
Zhong Nanshan specifically mentioned the need to achieve a balance between national health and economic development, and strive to achieve a high-quality cycle between economy and health.
In October, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) released the World Economic Outlook, saying that the global economy continued to recover, but due to the impact of the epidemic, the recovery momentum has weakened, uncertainty has risen and policy trade-offs have become more complex. As a result, iMF forecasts global economic growth of 5.9 percent in 2021, down 0.1 percentage points from its July forecast. The forecast for 2022 remains unchanged at 4.9%.
According to the latest data from the official website of the World Health Organization, as of 17:14 Central European Time on November 4, the global cumulative number of confirmed covid-19 cases 247968227, and the cumulative number of deaths 5020204. Hans Kruger, director of the World Health Organization for Europe, warned on the 4th that 500,000 people in Europe and some neighboring countries may die from the new crown virus infection this winter.
However, how to coordinate the development of national health and economic development, Zhong Nanshan said, this is a very important issue facing all countries at present, and there is still debate in this regard.
"Handled poorly, often going to two extremes, some of them are immediately released when they are initially controlled, and others may stagnate." Zhong Nanshan said, so these are worth exploring well.
Zhong Nanshan said that whether it is the health of the people or the scale of the economy, it needs the joint efforts of the whole world to achieve development and upgrading.
Contribute to China's strength
Not only the new crown, in the past 30 years, the major infectious diseases that have occurred globally include h5n1 in the 90s of the last century, SARS in 2003, human infection with swine streptococcal disease in 2015, influenza pandemic in 2009 (H1n1), Ebola, mers, h7n9 in 2013, Zika virus in 2016, dengue in 2017, etc. These major infectious diseases have broken out at home or abroad, and some are even global epidemics.
"The effective control of emerging infectious diseases is a major public health problem that the world must face." Zhang Yuntao, chief scientist and vice president of China Biotechnology Co., Ltd., said that in the face of the epidemic, no one and no country can be left alone, especially major emerging infectious diseases, which pose a severe challenge to the international order and human survival. Zhang Yuntao said that the new crown pneumonia has made people realize that the prevention and control of major emerging infectious diseases is a major problem faced by people around the world, and public health cooperation should be actively carried out to build a community of human health, maintain global public health order, and ensure human survival and health.
On the evening of the 4th, President Xi Jinping attended the opening ceremony of the Fourth China International Import Expo by video and delivered a keynote speech entitled "Let the Spring Breeze of Opening Up Warm the World". Xi Jinping pointed out that since the outbreak of the new crown pneumonia epidemic, China has provided the international community with about 350 billion masks, more than 4 billion protective clothing, more than 6 billion test reagents and more than 1.6 billion doses of vaccines, actively promoted international anti-epidemic cooperation, supported the exemption of vaccine intellectual property rights to developing countries, and fulfilled its commitments and showed responsibility with practical actions.
Zhang Yuntao said that as of the end of October 2021, there were 332 new crown vaccines developed worldwide, 128 of which had entered clinical research and more than 30 of which had entered phase III clinical studies. Among them, there are more than 100 CHINESE NEW CROWN vaccine research and development teams, 24 of which have entered clinical studies, 9 of which have entered phase III studies, 7 of which have been used urgently, 4 of which have been conditionally listed, and 2 of which have been authorized for emergency use by WHO and included in the global "Emergency Use List" (eul).
"China has 24 vaccines under clinical research, covering various technical routes, and In terms of vaccine research and development and production, China is at the forefront of the world." Zhang Yuntao said.
At present, China has provided more than 1.6 billion doses of vaccines to more than 100 countries and international organizations, and will provide more than 2 billion doses to the outside world throughout the year. China is carrying out joint production of vaccines with 16 countries and launching the "Belt and Road" vaccine partnership initiative with 30 countries.
In Zhang Yuntao's view, the new crown has changed people's understanding of the prevention and control of infectious diseases, and a global value aimed at responding to the common challenges of mankind has begun to take shape and gain international recognition.
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about a major shift in the perception of disease and health in society. Zhong Nanshan said that the next step should continue to promote healthy scientific and technological innovation, including building a national medical science and technology innovation system, strengthening the capacity building of scientific research institutions, strengthening cutting-edge medical technology, paying attention to key areas such as precision medicine, and enhancing the scientific and technological support for the development of the health industry. "We can see that the rapid development of digital technology has played a very important role in the prevention and control of this epidemic. Big data and artificial intelligence also provide an important basis for policy formulation for the diagnosis, prediction and treatment level of NEW CROWN patients. ”