Covid-19: As China struggles with new variants, a new wave may hit the world

Virendra Pandit:

New Delhi: Amid a resurgence of Covid-19 infections in part of China, including its financial hub Shanghai, Pune-based Serum Institute of India (SII) CEO Adar Poonawalla on Wednesday stated that “Made in India” vaccines provided enhanced protection against the pandemic than mRNA vaccines like those manufactured by global pharmaceutical giants like Pfizer and Moderna.

Two sub-variants of the latest Omicron strain—BA.2 and XE—have been reported from different countries and health officials are concerned they may cause the next global wave of infections in June and July.

“It’s good that these foreign-made vaccines were not introduced in India. In the US and other countries, even fully vaccinated people, who had taken all three doses, got reinfected. In India, however, our vaccines have given good protection,” the media quoted him as saying.

His company, SII, which manufactured Covishield under license from its developers AstraZeneca and Oxford University, had exported 10 crore doses of the vaccine to over 80 countries so far, Poonawala said.

“In some countries where mRNA vaccines were administered, several people were hospitalized, and they reported fresh cases because these shots did not provide better protection against the viral infection.”

Meanwhile, the Indian Consulate in Shanghai announced the suspension of in-person consular services as China’s business hub with 26 million people struggling with mounting Covid-19 cases, despite the strictest zero-case policy.

It asked the Indian citizens in Eastern China Region to apply at the Embassy of India, Beijing, for availing of urgent consular services, the Consulate said on Tuesday.

“As the City of Shanghai remains sealed and controlled in different degrees by the Shanghai Municipal People’s Government, the Consulate-General of India will remain inaccessible and cannot provide consular services in person,” it said.

“During the period, the Consulate will remain operational in a remote mode and may be reached for any consular emergency,” it added.

The Consulate’s notice came as Shanghai, China’s biggest city, continued to reel under the massive spread of the Omicron variant despite the strictest lockdown since March 28, according to the media reports.

China’s National Health Commission (NHC) on Wednesday said Shanghai city reported 1,189 positive and 25,141 new asymptomatic cases, with the number of infections once again crossing 26,000. It has extremely pressured the city’s health system. China’s other provinces have also reported a surge in cases.

Over 26,500 asymptomatic cases have been reported across China, with most of them from Shanghai, the Commission said.

As officials in Shanghai supplied food and vegetables to millions of locked-down people, the Consulate, through the local government, is trying to arrange the groceries for the Indian families.

China has opened several temporary hospitals to accommodate the surging numbers of cases, and deployed over 30,000 health workers, mostly from the security forces, to deal with the crisis.

Continuous lockdown and shortages have, however, enraged the hapless citizens.

“There have been harrowing reports of people screaming from their homes over the prolonged confinement, as well as food shortages, unmet medical needs and pets bludgeoned to death by zealous pandemic workers,” South China Morning Post reported.

“While Shanghai’s outbreak shows no sign of subsiding, there are also concerns for another Covid-19 hotspot, 2,000 km away in the northern province of Jilin. Its capital Changchun has been in lockdown since March 11, when 160 local infections were reported,” it said.

On Tuesday, the US also directed the non-emergency government staff at its Shanghai consulate to leave the city. China sharply criticized the US move, saying the local government provided foreign diplomatic and consular personnel with help and convenience to the maximum extent possible.

On Wednesday, the Chinese mainland reported 1,500 new locally transmitted confirmed coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours.

China, whose Wuhan city is seen as the epicenter of the pandemic since January 2020, is dealing with its worst Covid-19 outbreak.