A bit odd how China isn't enforcing vaccine uptake, considering how draconian their measures are at the moment. Are they waiting for their own mRNA vaccine to materialise? 

I guess the state's enforcement is not as powerful as we're led to believe here in the west.

It's basically the same as here, misinformation, mistrust, fear of the vaccines

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-03-19/why-dont-china-prioritise-elderly-covid-vaccine/100917770

Ms Yao — who lives in China's "Silicon Valley", Shenzhen — said her parents were deterred by "fake news" on social media, which falsely claimed the vaccines were not effective nor safe, and could spread other serious diseases.

It has been reported that posts on the Chinese social media platform WeChat have been spreading the false claim that mRNA vaccines can integrate with a person's DNA and transform recipients into "genetically modified humans".

Bit ironic, since they don't even use mRNA vaccines in China...


Also a different stance from doctors:

Misinformation, or disinformation, is not the only reason elderly people have been left in limbo, and some are unable to be vaccinated due to underlying conditions. That's the situation Yan Zhiming's mother finds herself in, after she was diagnosed with lung cancer last year. In her specific case, her local doctor advised her against being vaccinated while she was undergoing cancer treatment. 

In Australia, immunocompromised people are strongly encouraged to get vaccinated, and to consult their doctor regarding timing if they are on immunosuppressants or undergoing chemotherapy.



And other reasons, vaccinate those first that are more likely to catch it instead of vaccinating the most vulnerable first:

Compared with Australia and other Western countries, China adopted a different approach, where the elderly population was not a priority group for the vaccine in the early stages of the pandemic.

Instead, China prioritised people aged between 18 to 60 years who were working in essential services, identifying them as more likely to be infected and spread the virus. China started to roll out vaccines for people aged 60 and above only from March 2021. 

George Liu — the China health program director at La Trobe University — said China didn't prioritise elderly people in the first place, due to a lack of scientific data. "The vaccines developed in China were only tested in some developing countries outside of China because of the low prevalence of COVID-19 in China," he said. "Populations in those countries are relatively young, compared to Australia and other Western countries."

It could be that pervasive vaccine skepticism is something culturally specific to the (older) Han Chinese. Taiwan is also reporting vaccination rates below 80% among the elderly.

That being said... imagine if BA.1 and BA.2 had been named after the preceding greek letters of Nu and Xi instead of Omicron.

"After sweeping through Hong Kong, Xi ravages China".

Weekly update. Cases continue to fall, yet reporting also continues to become less frequent and less accurate.

In total 7.82 million new cases were reported last week (down from 10.2 million) to a total of 497,524,778
Also another 28,167 more deaths were reported (slightly down from 28,399) tot a total of 6,198,996

Europe is declining faster now, 3.71 million new cases vs 4.87 million last week, deaths went up though 13,959 vs 11,204 the week before.
USA is climbing again slightly 224K new cases vs 213K last week, deaths still declining 3,987 vs 4,791 the week before.

The continents

Europe, South America and Asia going down a bit, North America going up a bit, Africa and Oceania staying practically the same.

Corners of the world

Despite much less testing, the new wave is clearly visible in Canada. Iran is heading back up as well.
South Korea continues to head down, deaths have peaked as well, still sitting a bit above 300 a day.
The rest mostly stays the same.


Europe in detail

The general trend is heading down, reported deaths aren't heading down as fast through. Part of the downward trend is from less reporting.
Spain only reports twice a week now, only 8 out of the 16 countries I'm tracking are still reporting daily. Half have no numbers in the weekends.

While the graph up there shows the UK declining
https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/coronavirus/living-with-covid-19-experts-divided-on-u-k-plan-as-cases-soar-1.5856065

Mask requirements have been dropped. Free mass testing is a thing of the past. And for the first time since spring 2020, people can go abroad for holidays without ordering tests or filling out lengthy forms. That sense of freedom is widespread even as infections soared in Britain in March, driven by the milder but more transmissible Omicron BA.2 variant that's rapidly spreading around Europe, the U.S. and elsewhere.

France and Germany have seen similar spikes in infections in recent weeks, and the number of hospitalizations in the U.K. and France has again climbed -- though the number of deaths per day remains well below levels seen earlier in the pandemic.

In the U.S., more and more Americans are testing at home, so official case numbers are likely a vast undercount. The roster of those newly infected include actors and politicians, who are tested regularly. Cabinet members, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Broadway actors and the governors of New Jersey and Connecticut have all tested positive.

Britain stands out in Europe because it ditched all mitigation policies in February, including mandatory self-isolation for those infected. Prime Minister Boris Johnson's conservative government is determined to stick to its "living with COVID" plan, but experts disagree on whether the country is coping well.

Some scientists argue it's the right time to accept that "living with COVID" means tolerating a certain level of disruption and deaths, much like we do for seasonal flu. Others believe that Britain's government lifted restrictions too quickly and too soon. They warned that deaths and hospital admissions could keep rising because more people over 55 -- those who are most likely to get seriously ill from COVID-19 -- are now getting infected despite high levels of vaccination.

The 7 day avg reported deaths for the UK is climbing and just went over 200 deaths a day. (It has been as high as 1,300 a day though)

Weekly update, overall reported cases and deaths continue to go down. We're finally getting below the reported deaths from the first wave of the pandemic. Back to March 2020. Cases and hospitalizations are still rising again here in Canada and overall still much higher, yet the death rate has plummeted due to vaccinations, less deadly variants and better treatment options.

In total 6.10 million new cases were reported last week (down from 7.82 million) to a total of 503,628,872. Half a billion reported cases!
Also another 20,931 more deaths were reported (down from 28,167) to a total of 6,219,927

USA is creeping up a bit, Europe still declining yet also getting more sporadic in reporting.
Reported deaths are still on the decline, globally reaching the lowest levels since the start of the pandemic.

The continents

Living with Covid-19, keeping the infections at a steady level

Corners of the world

Canada is heading up, China can't look good any longer just reporting symptomatic cases. Rising regardless.
South Korea still heading down from their big wave, USA slightly up, the rest keeping the status quo.

USA reported 258K new cases (up from 224K) and 3,381 more deaths (down from 3,987)
Canada reported 63K new cases (down from 68K) and 411 deaths (306 last week) (Good Friday's numbers are missing)

Europe in detail

Still heading in the right direction although reporting is becoming less and less frequent. As long as reported deaths keep going down it's no problem.
Europe reported 6.10 million new cases (down from 7.82 million) and 20,931 more deaths (down from 28,167)

We're relying on wastewater analysis now to make predictions, tests are too selective and looking at hospitalizations is too late.
https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/coronavirus/wastewater-now-one-of-our-only-reliable-tools-to-detect-covid-19-prevalence-1.5862546

People are getting more and more upset with the harsh measures in China
https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/coronavirus/growing-defiance-of-covid-19-measures-in-china-brings-wave-of-arrests-1.5863315

The Chinese public have been largely supportive of the zero-COVID policy that kept the coronavirus at bay for the two years after it emerged in the central city of Wuhan in late 2019 and spread rapidly around the world. But the support seems to be wearing thin as the highly contagious Omicron variant emerges in China, triggering curbs that have brought food shortages, family separations, lost wages and economic pain.

Sun's protest reflects growing frustration and resentment, in a society that generally respects authority, with a COVID strategy that is increasingly challenged by the Omicron variant. The last straw for authorities came on March 27, when Sun walked around his campus carrying a placard that read "lift the lockdown on Ludong." Police detained him and on April 1 Ludong University expelled him, according to a letter from the university seen by Reuters.

Some insane scenes coming from China, the economic damage must be enormous. People are dying too but impossible to know at which rates since numbers are being tampered. What is Xi's big plan here? As soon as the lockdowns are lifted there will be a countdown of mere weeks for the spread to get back to where it was...

Today we found out one of our oldest son's friends has got Covid-19, his sister as well. They should be fine, all young, healthy and vaccinated. But another extra worry. Chances our son got it are small, they only played outside together but do sit in the same classroom all day. But it's a bit too close for comfort. Our kids will be fine, my wife is still struggling :/

At least it's a 4 day weekend currently. By Tuesday anyone else that might have it in the class should start to show symptoms or already be done with it. Watching our kid closely.

Severe cases in my prefecture have been trending upwards and regular cases have been affecting my workplace quite a bit lately.

If things get much worse, there will definitely be more voluntary lockdowns.

Mask usage elimination is nowhere to be found.

Seems like BA.2 will be succeeded by its 'children', three derived lineages (BA.4, BA.5, BA.2.12.1) sharing a mutation in site L452 and a similar transmission advantage of up to 30%. That doesn't necessarily mean they're more 'infectious' (since reproduction rates can't grow ad infinitum), just that they're overall more fit for whatever reason at this particular point in time.

While this might seem 'bad' at the surface, on the other hand, it indicates continuous antigenic drift from Omicron, like seasonal influenza, instead of the abrupt emergence of an unrelated lineage like it happened so often during the pandemic (the former isn't a guaranteed feature of endemicity, BTW; HIV evolves like that). That makes the virus more predictable.

Weekly update. Easter messing with the already less reliable numbers.


In total 4.88 million new cases were reported last week (down from 6.10 million) to a total of 508,509,857
Also another 20,264 more deaths were reported (slightly down from 20,931) to a total of 6,240,191

The reported cases in the USA went up despite the Easter lull in measuring, reported deaths still dropped (2,797 vs 3,381)
The reverse in Europe, reported cases dropped again yet reported deaths went up (11,028 vs 9,668)

The continents

Oceania on par with North America, mostly due to differences in how cases are reported / measured. Reported deaths are about a factor 8 higher in NA.

Corners of the world

Australia, Japan and USA look close together in reported cases, yet 7 day average reported deaths are 30, 45 and 400 respectively.
South Africa looks to be dealing with a new outbreak.

We're said to peak next week in hospitalizations and should finally be heading down again
(Canada reported 68K new cases vs 63K last week and 365 deaths, 411 last week)

Europe in detail

Winter sports likely driving new waves, it never ends.

Immunity or protection from vaccines, unsurprisingly holds up better in people with a well working immune system to start with
https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/coronavirus/how-well-is-our-immunity-holding-up-against-covid-19-1.5872833

Up to three months after a third dose, the vaccine's effectiveness against hospitalization was 85 per cent, but it fell to 55 per cent after three months. After a closer look, though, she found that these results were largely driven by immune status. "We saw no evidence of waning but in the immunocompromised," Tartof said. "In the immunocompromised, vaccine effectiveness basically starts low and gets lower." But for people with regular immune function, vaccine effectiveness against hospitalization stayed high -- about 86 per cent -- after three months.