In America, it is always difficult to trust news coming out of China, given expected biases from the Chinese Communist Party and the pride that the Chinese have over their newfound economic and technological superiority. Two significant factors form the backdrop of the current Chinese outbreak: 1) failed “COVID-19 Zero” policies that kept a large fraction of the population in lockdown, thus preventing the more permissive general spread and immune challenge, 2) mass deployment of the Sinovac Coronovac killed whole virus vaccine.1
While the vaccine is apparently completely ineffective against Omicron, it may be responsible for misdirecting the immune system or paradoxically making infections worse in a process called antibody-dependent enhancement. China has recently expanded the choice of vaccines to a total of 12 COVID-19 vaccines available, including five inactivated vaccines, four recombinant protein vaccines, one adenovirus shot, one recombinant novel coronavirus vaccine for inhalation and one nasal spray influenza virus vector vaccine, according to a report by Caijing magazine in December 2022.2
Chinese authorities are making plans to kick off a fourth dose of any vaccine in the country. The fourth dose may be implemented in the near future, starting with specific risk groups.
In a recent CNN interview, Dr. Jessica Justman, an associate professor of medicine in epidemiology at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and senior technical director of the global health program there, said, “I’m concerned that China right now is one giant incubator of SARS-CoV-2. There is the potential to have so many infections and, with that, new variants.”3
We dedicate this week’s McCullough Report to the current Chinese crisis with Dr. Li-Meng Yan, host of “The Voice of Dr. Yan.”4 Dr. Yan, a Chinese virologist, is keeping in close contact with informants inside mainland China.
Some important issues came out during the interview:
1) the proportion of Chinese citizens immunized with the Sinovac-CoronaVac vaccine, whereas none of the US population, so the immune systems have been primed differently,
2) a large unknown fraction of Chinese infections may be recurrent infections,
3) an unknown fraction of the hospitalizations and deaths may be due to recurrent infection as opposed to index cases; this would be distinctly unusual since second and third infections in the US have been mild and inconsequential,
4) it is unclear how the Chinese are deploying early treatments, however, Dr. Yan indicated that, unfortunately, that the Chinese had missed the boat on simple, affordable, and available viricidal nasal washes (povidone-iodine, peroxide, colloidal silver, xylitol, etc.). The interview and the insights of Dr. Yan on the world’s largest population are invaluable at this time of crisis.
So let’s get real, let’s get loud; on America Out Loud Talk Radio, this is The McCullough Report!
The McCullough Report: Sat/Sun 2 PM ET Encore 7 PM – Internationally recognized Dr. Peter A. McCullough, known for his iconic views on the state of medical truth in America and around the globe, pierces through the thin veil of mainstream media stories that skirt the significant issues and provide no tractable basis for durable insight. Listen on iHeart Radio, our world-class media player, or our free apps on Apple, Android, or Alexa. Each episode goes to major podcast networks early in the week and can be heard on-demand anywhere in the world.
1 https://www.who.int/news-room/feature-stories/detail/the-sinovac-covid-19-vaccine-what-you-need-to-know
2 https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202212/1281267.shtml?id=11
3 https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/30/health/covid-variants-concern-new-year/index.html
4 https://americaoutloud.news/voice-of-dr-yan/
Image: Reuters