China Times (www.chinatimes.net.cn) reporter Sun Mengyuan Yu Na Beijing reported that the new mutant strain of the new coronavirus is coming again.
htmlOn June 29, World Health Organization (WHO) reported that within the 24th epidemiological weeks (June 13 to 19), Omickron BA.5 accounted for 43% of the new cases of new crown , surpassing BA.2 (25%), becoming the mainstream strain of the new round of epidemics in the world.soon, the BA.5 mutant strain that was raging Europe and the United States quietly invaded Xi'an and Beijing. On July 5 and 6, Xi'an and Beijing successively reported local epidemics caused by the Omickron BA.5 strain.
virology expert Chang Rongshan said in an interview with a reporter from " China Times " that the new mutant virus has penetrated into China and cannot be said to be a re-election, but can only be said to be a beginning. Judging from the epidemic trend of Singapore since mid-May BA.4/5 strains, more than 99% of infected people have been asymptomatic or mild, and no significant improvement in the pathogenicity of the strain has been found. "Overall, this strain is not enough to cause panic," said Chang Rongshan.
mutation
Since December last year, the new coronavirus Omickron mutant strain has become the main epidemic strain of the global new coronavirus pneumonia epidemic.
htmlOn March 15, the Global Viral Gene Sharing Database (GISAID) collected the gene sequence of BA.5 for the first time, and was first reported by South Africa. Soon, the mutant virus spread all over the world and spread to 19 other countries within 3 months. htmlOn May 30, The Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention released an English weekly report that China had discovered the first case of infected with the Omickron mutant strain BA.5 imported from abroad on April 25. htmlOn July 2, Xi'an found a nucleic acid positive person in the nucleic acid screening for key populations, which is also the first city in mainland China to report a local BA.5 epidemic. html On July 5, at the epidemic prevention and control press conference held in Xi'an City, Ma Chaofeng, deputy director of the Xi'an Center for Disease Control and Prevention, reported that the strains infected by positive infections were all BA.5.2 branches, and most of them were related to waste recycling personnel or their related personnel. The virus comes from abroad, but the source is still unclear. Coincidentally, on July 6, Beijing also reported the local epidemic of BA.5. Gene sequencing results show that all viruses belong to the BA.5.2 branch of the Omickron variant strain. What is even more worrying is that behind the pandemic, BA.5 will obviously not be the last mutant strain. The new BA.2.75 variant discovered in India for the first time on June 30 has already appeared in many countries around the world, and its transmission speed is far higher than the current mainstream strain BA.4/5.As of July 2, researchers from various countries have found 85 BA.2.75 variant gene sequences in international new coronavirus genome databases such as "GISAID". The variant first appeared in the gene sequence from India in early June, and then quickly appeared in seven other countries including the United Kingdom, the United States, Japan, Canada, Australia, , New Zealand, , Germany, etc.
Chang Rongshan told our reporter that in addition to the BA.4/5 strain, the epidemic situation of the new subtype of Omickron BA.2.75 should be paid close attention to. BA.2.75 was first reported by India, and at least 8 countries have reported cases. Compared with its parent strain BA.2, BA.2.75 also produces new mutations on the spike protein, further enhancing its immune escape ability. "Judgement of BA.2.75 still depends on genetic sequencing, and undergo single-person isolation after diagnosis. We must strictly guard against prevention and control policies. Early detection and early treatment are still an effective means to control the epidemic." Chang Rongshan suggested.
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research shows that in addition to faster transmission speed and higher viral load, BA.5 has new situations of invading the lungs and having strong immune escape ability compared with Omickron's previous mutant strains, which may increase the severity rate. As the most effective way to prevent and control the epidemic, vaccines also face greater challenges because the constantly changing strains.
According to the global development of new crown vaccine released by on July 1, the number of vaccines in clinical development is 167, and the number of vaccines in preclinical development is 198. Most of the vaccines currently on the market or under development are still only on the original strain BA.1. This also means that it is urgent to develop a vaccine against new strains.At the same time, the development of second-generation new crown vaccines using Omickron strain to replace or supplement the original strain is accelerating, and the improved vaccine may be able to better cope with BA.4/5.
html On June 25, Pfizer press release showed that in a live virus neutralization test on serum of subjects aged 56 and older, the serum of subjects vaccinated with the Pfizer bivalent COVID-19 vaccine can effectively neutralize BA.4/BA.5, but the titer is about three times lower than BA.1. htmlOn July 1, Novavax said that researchers are accelerating the development of vaccines that lock in the two variant strains. The new crown vaccine tailored for Omickron BA.4 and BA.5 variant strains is expected to be available in the fourth quarter of this year.Domestic, many pharmaceutical companies such as Sinovac , China Biologics, Shenzhou Cell, Lizhu Pharmaceuticals are also launching vaccine research and releases for Omickron.
htmlOn July 1, Shenzhou Cell revealed on the interactive platform that the new crown vaccine product SCTV01E is currently conducting Phase III clinical research in the UAE. Please pay attention to the subsequent information disclosure for related progress. The company has recently disclosed the interim analysis results of the domestic Phase I clinical study of the bivalent vaccine SCTV01C, showing that SCTV01C has performed excellently in clinical safety, immunogenicity , and broad-spectrum. It is expected to be the first broad-spectrum vaccine with cross-neutralizing antibody titers for 2 shots to produce a broad-spectrum vaccine with cross-neutralizing antibody titers for the prevention of Omickron infection. htmlOn July 4, Sinovac Holdings Biotechnology Co., Ltd. (China Sinovac) officially launched the clinical trial of the inactivated new coronavirus vaccine of Omicron mutant strain in Hong Kong to evaluate the use of this vaccine as a way to enhance the safety and immunogenicity of immunization in healthy adults, and provide a scientific basis for formulating future vaccination strategies.earlier. On May 31, Hong Kong University School of Medicine and Sinopharm Group announced a cooperation to launch clinical trials of the second-generation Omickron strain to study the safety and immune response of the vaccine as a booster in adults, and aim to recruit 1,800 adult volunteers who have received two or three doses of inactivated or mRNA COVID-19 vaccine.
According to the official microblog of China Biologics on April 29, there are two Omickron new crown vaccines, developed by the Wuhan Institute of Biological Products and the Sinopharm Institute of Chinese Medicine, and have been approved for clinical trials by the Ministry of Health of Abu Dhabi, UAE.
It is certain that behind the continuous changes in R&D, the global COVID-19 vaccine competition is constantly increasing the difficulty due to the mutant strain.
