After the release of China’s zero covid policy, the virus is spreading inexorably. There are millions of infections a day and the country has stopped reporting deaths. But according to molecular virologist Marjolein Kikkert, there is little cause for concern in Europe.
‘Of course it is difficult to predict how things will turn out, even from an evolutionary point of view, but China is now dealing with the omikron variant. Some evolutions could be developed, but since the genetic background is the same as the omikron, I don’t think it’s very likely that something that we don’t know will arise and translate into something serious for us. But we don’t know.’
Though Americans warn that mass distributions beckon during Chinese New Year, Kikkert thinks we shouldn’t be afraid of that either. “The situation in the West is very different. Our population has been much more exposed to the virus over the past couple of years, which means that our immune systems are generally much more resilient to what’s happening now.’
Vaccinations help
Kikkert points out that the western population has constantly adapted to the different variants, always looking carefully at vaccination. “We did it relatively well in the sense that we started it once, and we’ve been using booster shots ever since,” he says. ‘So the more exposure, the more the population has had to deal with those variants, the better the resistance. You are also protected with a new variant.’
What’s behind it?
How the corona virus is spreading in China raises some questions. It is due to the consequences of a too strict covid policy with too many lockdowns or the Sinovac vaccine is not effective enough. Kikkert thinks it’s a combination. “I think in this sense the government had the idea that they could keep everything under control, but it was a wrong idea,” he says. “It swung so hard. Well, they were relatively good at suppressing it, so the immune system never got a chance to really know about the virus.’
Furthermore, according to Kikkert, there is a technological backlog regarding vaccines. “You could say it’s a little older than what we have. Modern vaccines, such as mRNA and vector vaccines, have been found to work well, while old-fashioned methods have proven less effective. That combination has certainly caused escalation there.’
Source: BNR
Sharon Rock is an author and journalist who writes for 24 News Globe. She has a passion for learning about different cultures and understanding the complexities of the world. With a talent for explaining complex global issues in an accessible and engaging way, Sharon has become a respected voice in the field of world news journalism.
