Mainland China’s top Covid-19 expert praises Hong Kong’s easing of pandemic controls, calls coming domestic drugs ‘better than Paxlovid’
- Zhong Nanshan gives nod to city’s anti-pandemic fight, spruiks domestically developed drugs and vaccines which could be ready next month across border
- Praise follows government adviser professor David Hui’s affirmation that Covid-19 is ‘over’ in Hong Kong
Mainland China’s top Covid-19 expert has praised Hong Kong’s easing of pandemic control measures on a rare visit to the city, as he revealed a number of new coronavirus vaccines and medications that are “better” than Paxlovid will soon be available across the border.
Zhong Nanshan provided the dose of optimism as a top local government expert said the pandemic was “over” in Hong Kong and Covid-19 vaccination would likely be regularised like flu jabs, following the World Health Organization’s twice-yearly meeting later this month.
Zhong on Saturday said masks and vaccines played an important role in Hong Kong’s anti-pandemic fight. He added the chances of Hong Kong suffering a rebound in serious Covid-19 cases were slim.
“Hong Kong has done a good job in relaxing restrictions, even earlier than mainland China, and we did not see any big problem,” he said while attending a public event. “I believe the risk is not very high because the vaccination rate is high, and the Omicron virus is less lethal now.”
Zhong said the large coronavirus outbreak on the mainland in December had spurred vaccine and drug development, with the country expecting the implementation of a number of new multivalent vaccines which could target Omicron sublineages XBB and BQ.1.1 from next month. Such jabs immunise against more than one strain of an antigen.
He said some of the new drugs were “better than [Pfizer’s] Paxlovid” and had been approved on the mainland. They would be available very soon, he said. Paxlovid is one of the two Covid-19 antiviral pills available in Hong Kong.
Professor David Hui Shu-cheong on Saturday said the local pandemic situation remained stable following the lifting of the mask-wearing mandate on March 1, with fewer than 10 Covid-19 cases classified as serious or critical every day, while the viral load detected in sewage was low.
“We can say the pandemic is over now,” Hui said on a radio programme. “Omicron subvariants BA.2 and BA.5 remain dominant in Hong Kong. They are infectious but less fatal.”
“We have also identified other sublineages such as XBB, BF.7 and CH1.1 in the city, which could have triggered a major outbreak if they became dominant, but that did not happen. That means the city still maintains a high level of immunity.”
Hui added that while Hong Kong had not witnessed any significant surge in flu cases, residents in high-risk categories such as the elderly and those who had not received three doses of a Covid-19 vaccine were advised to keep their masks on in crowded places for better protection against infection.
With the WHO’s expert panel on immunisation set to meet later this month, Hui predicted a recommendation to regularise Covid-19 vaccination would likely be made.
“High-risk people such as the elderly, immunocompromised and those with long-term illnesses may need to receive a new dose every year, just like the flu jabs,” he said.
The city’s joint scientific committee under the Centre for Health Protection would meet later this month and adjust its recommendations according to the WHO’s advice, he added.
Reviewing the past three years of the pandemic, Hui said the emergence of the more transmissible and Omicron variant, together with a low inoculation rate among some groups, were the reasons the containment policy no longer worked during the city’s fifth pandemic wave last year.
“Under the containment policy, asymptomatic and mild cases were also isolated at hospitals, but we hardly had enough negative pressure wards for all of them,” he said. “If we had started home isolation and quarantine earlier, the healthcare system might not have collapsed.”
Hui said the city would be better prepared for other pandemics in the future, with the assistance of advanced technology.
Unlike the severe acute respiratory syndrome outbreak in 2003, the world had a good understanding of Covid-19 soon after the outbreak, while vaccines, testing kits and antiviral drugs were made available quickly, he explained.
Hui added that healthcare workers were better protected this time, with the help of negative pressure wards.
The city’s health chief Lo Chung-mau said more infectious diseases were expected in future and the city should remain vigilant, despite a huge improvement in medical technology.
He said the city’s healthcare system should go beyond just “back to normal”, and seek to build stronger resilience through reform and innovation, including an introduction of foreign-trained nurses and dentists, and development of the primary healthcare system.
