Medical expert says vaccine strategy key to fight against pandemic

Promoting an efficient vaccine strategy will be the top priority in the next phase of the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, renowned Shanghai doctor Zhang Wenhong wrote on his Sina Weibo account on Monday.

"There is a certain proportion of cases whom despite receiving two doses of the vaccine developed severe conditions that require oxygen supplementation. But the incidence of severe cases among those who have received the third shot was just 0.1 percent," wrote Zhang, the head of the Center for Infectious Diseases with the Shanghai-based Huashan Hospital. "This shows a strong correlation between vaccination and the incidence of severe cases."

Regarding the latest COVID-19 wave in Hong Kong, Zhang said that medical teams in the Chinese mainland have cooperated with pandemic prevention teams in Hong Kong and applied efficient anti-epidemic methods in vaccination, hierarchical diagnosis and treatment, and testing.

According to him, among the 1,561 deaths in the latest wave in Hong Kong, 94.7 percent were seniors and 91.3 percent had not been fully vaccinated. The fatality rate for unvaccinated cases was 1.25 percent, 31 times higher than those who received two doses.

"Based on what we have seen in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Singapore, vaccination is of great significance and promoting efficient vaccination strategies will be the top priority in the fight against the pandemic in the next phase, aside from having a medical triage system," he wrote. "If this is achieved, we can expect the COVID-19 pandemic to come to an end."

Zhang also reinforced the importance of allowing residents to maintain their daily routines amid efforts to curb the spread of the virus.

The core of the fight will also lie in "scientific and precise prevention and improving the living environment and feelings of people put under quarantine", Zhang wrote.