The long-awaited "comprehensive liberalization" has really come. On December 26, the National Health Commission issued the "Notice on Issuing the Overall Plan for Implementing "Category B and B Control" for New Coronavirus Infections, announcing that starting from January 8, 2023, new coronavirus infections will be adjusted from "Category B and A" to "Category B and B".
Category A and Category B are the classifications of infectious diseases in my country's "Law for the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases". AIDS , rabies , tuberculosis , etc. are all Class B infectious diseases . Infectious diseases such as these are usually easy to prevent and control, or are not fatal.
In the past, the new crown has always been a Class B infectious disease, but it is managed according to Class A, which shows that the country attaches great importance to it. After being adjusted to "Category B", the detection and management methods of the source of infection of the new coronavirus will be changed. For example, people infected with the new coronavirus will no longer be isolated, close contacts will no longer be determined, and the testing strategy for nucleic acid and antigen will be adjusted to "test as many as possible", etc.
All pharmaceutical industry chains that have revolved around the new crown epidemic in the past will be dismantled and reorganized, The pharmaceutical industry affected by epidemic prevention and control will also face new opportunities.
COVID-19 vaccine , is it still necessary to take it?
On December 14, the National Health Commission just decided to start the "fourth shot" of the new crown vaccine.
The latest "Notice on the Implementation of the Second Dose Booster Immunization of the New Coronavirus Vaccine" proposes that on the basis of the first dose of booster vaccination, the second dose of booster vaccination, also known as the "fourth shot", can be carried out in people at high risk of infection, people over 60 years old, people with serious underlying diseases and people with low immunity .
However, the recent epidemic has shaken many people's confidence in the vaccine . Although the virus strain has weakened and the mortality rate of infected people has been greatly reduced, given the large base of the domestic population, there are still many infected people other than the elderly who are at high risk. At the same time, my country has received more than 3.4 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines, and the full vaccination rate for people over 3 years old has exceeded 90%. Judging from the actual situation, the high vaccination rate of vaccine does not seem to block viral infection.
The National Health Commission has not disclosed specific infection information. However, aggregating information from various places, Beijing and Sichuan have the highest infection rates in this round, both exceeding 50%. The spread of virus in many areas is still accelerating and has not yet reached its peak. On December 17, Wu Zunyou, chief epidemiologist of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said at the annual meeting of Finance and Economics that the infection rate of the epidemic this winter is estimated to be 10% to 30%.
Many people are wondering: Since the vaccine cannot prevent infection, and the severe disease rate and mortality rate are generally not high, do you still need to continue to receive the fourth shot, or even receive the new crown vaccine regularly?
The "Category B Overall Plan" clarifies that it is necessary to further increase the vaccination rate of the new coronavirus vaccine among the elderly, and promote the second dose of booster vaccination among people at high risk of severe illness. According to the deployment, all localities should organize and implement carefully, optimize service forms, and continue to do a good job in vaccinating the elderly against the new coronavirus vaccine.
China has always adhered to the principle of “voluntary vaccination” in promoting COVID-19 vaccination. But in practice, vaccination is often linked to participation in large-scale events. In the future, "Class B and B tubes" will continue to advance, and the binding force of the booster shot and the "fourth shot" may also be adjusted accordingly, and will no longer be linked to public behavior.
Many companies developing new coronavirus vaccines may face a situation where the vaccines are rarely used.
Innovative drugs may benefit from the payment side.
There is also a funding issue when being bound to the new coronavirus vaccine.
The United States has decided to change the original free supply of vaccines to personal burden starting in 2023.China's full vaccination rate currently exceeds 90%. Will the new crown vaccine be "normalized" in the future? Do you need to pay for it at your own expense? This could affect the fate of the entire pharmaceutical industry.
In April this year, the National Medical Insurance Administration disclosed data that 3.2 billion doses of vaccines had been administered in China, and the cost of vaccines reached more than 120 billion yuan. In 2019, without the interruption of the epidemic, the total expenditure on medical insurance was 2 trillion yuan. In other words, the expenditure on the new crown vaccine in the past two years has accounted for an average of about 3% of the total medical insurance expenditure each year.
Medical insurance funds are not ironclad. Beginning in 2018, the country launched a pilot program to implement centralized drug procurement. The intensity of centralized procurement has been strengthened year by year. By 2021, the National Medical Insurance Administration organized three batches of centralized bulk procurement of drugs, making it the year with the highest frequency of centralized procurement.
The results of centralized procurement are obvious to all. In February this year, the National Medical Insurance Administration stated that the cost savings of centralized procurement organized by the country had exceeded 260 billion yuan.
In addition, the medical insurance price negotiations started in 2015 have also stuck in the throats of innovative pharmaceutical companies. In 2021, the overall negotiation success rate for medical insurance exceeded 80.3% for the first time, and "soul bargaining" was once out of the circle. In June this year, the Medical Insurance Bureau released the "Statistical Bulletin on the Development of National Medical Security in 2021" stating that through negotiated price reductions and medical insurance reimbursements, a cumulative burden of 149.49 billion yuan was reduced for patients during the year.
Medical insurance is so aggressively bargaining. In addition to solving the old problem of difficult and expensive medical treatment, epidemic prevention and control expenditures are also a huge part. On the one hand, the medical insurance fund must ensure normal medical services, and on the other hand, it must respond to the epidemic, so it is very important to save money in all aspects. 2021 is an important year to pay for the epidemic, and centralized procurement and medical insurance negotiations will naturally work hard to ensure that there is no gap in the medical insurance fund.
Today, the leveling of the new coronavirus infection means that many resources may be reallocated.
During the sudden epidemic, the country always needs to consider the health protection of the entire population, which indirectly affects the largest payer in the pharmaceutical industry and leads to the overall decline of the pharmaceutical industry. Even the innovative drug industry has seen its confidence sink under the impact of 2021. Now, everything is taking a turn for the better. Money that should be spent on people's health will more effectively support the development of innovative drugs and innovative medical devices.
Relevant companies should be aware of this. Written by
| Edited by nicotinamide
| Operated by Jiang Yun and Jia Ting
| Twenty-three
illustrations | visual China
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