China - biggest spike in cases in 5 months - lockdown in some cities

[Onedropbeat]

This is one of the new articles this morning and it’s concerning as they had their own vaccination program rolled out quite early on last year

If what we hear on China can be trusted isn’t this a big worry that despite our mass vaccination effort that we could still be locking down regionally even a year later?

An outbreak in China is very different from an outbreak here. 500 cases will result in a localised lockdown and mass testing as they jump on every case.
Re vaccination programme, they are taking the opposite approach to us and vaccinating the working population first 18 to 59 year olds. Some people were vaccinated last year, but I think this was mainly students who were returning to study overseas. I only left China last year and have many friends still there and dh phones China for work on a daily basis and no info yet on mass rollout of vaccine.

It does seem to be an extraordinary coincidence that Wuhan has not only one but two labs that study/studied coronaviruses in bats.

The Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) was funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) between 2014-2019. One of the reasons, apparently for the funding, was to bring Chinese labs up to higher safety standards but that the funding ultimately ended because of the ongoing ethical debate about the right/wrong of “gain-of-function”: (research that investigates how a virus can gain the ability to infect a new type of animal), which is understood was studied at WIV.

Increasingly, some scientists believe that there was an accidental leak from the WIV with the Wuhan wet market the first super spreader event. Ultimately, even if it did not originate in the lab, there is a burden of proof and the lack of accessibility for the WHO to inspect the labs is concerning.

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/scientists-cast-doubt-on-whos-china-mission-to-find-virus-origin-ftbtnbj9two

www.infectioncontroltoday.com/view/idea-that-covid-19-began-as-a-lab-leak-spreads

@1980sMum that is really interesting, thank you. I think the phrase “burden of proof” is key here.

@ChessIsASport

My Dad’s Chinese students told him that they were all vaccinated before they returned to university in September so more than just the vulnerable must have been vaccinated. But China is so corrupt that it wouldn’t surprise me if the rich children of officials who study abroad got it before the elderly.

I think people had to pay for it. So yes the rich got it before the poor.

@ChessIsASport

My Dad’s Chinese students told him that they were all vaccinated before they returned to university in September so more than just the vulnerable must have been vaccinated. But China is so corrupt that it wouldn’t surprise me if the rich children of officials who study abroad got it before the elderly.

The priority in China is working population before elderly ie 18 to 59 year olds first.

If they allow WHO in to Wuhan they are admitting it started in China to their own people

That admission was already made in the January report.

Why did they delay? Goodness only knows. But access was permitted before and is about to happen again.

@MrDinklesOhSnap

I know this is beside the point and not helpful, but I’m just so bloody angry at China for giving this to the world and taking no responsibility or ownership by actively resisting the international community’s attempts to investigate the source. Why are they so bloody cagey and corrupt?

I think the next few years will bring massive recriminations. All of humanity has a responsibility to stop this happening again and China must acknowledge their part in this.

I agree.

You can’t compare what will happen after our mass vaccination with China atm as only a small proportion of population have been vaccinated.