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Hong Kong records first ever Covid-19 re-infection

A 33-year-old Hong Kong man was tested with novel coronavirus again after four months, becoming one of a few cases of COVID19 reinfection in the world.
Dutch and Belgian patients get coronavirus re-infection after Hong Kong reports world’s first reinfection case. More testing needed on new patients to see two instances of virus differ slightly.

Hong Kong researchers said they found antibodies several days after the man was hospitalized for the second time, but there were no antibodies when he tested positive after returning from Spain, which also proved that he had been reinfected and could therefore infect others. This case was believed to be the world’s first confirmed case of a human becoming reinfected after recovery.

Jin Dongyan, a biomedical professor at the University of Hong Kong, told the Global Times on Tuesday that genetic sequencing of the man’s virus during his first infection was similar to the virus detected in Wuhan, Central China’s Hubei Province, when he was first diagnosed with COVID-19 in March. This time, the sequencing was similar with the virus found in Europe. 

Jin also ruled out the possibility that the virus from March had remained in his body, thus bringing a positive test result, due to the completely different genetic sequencing of the virus. Most of those who test positive due to the virus remaining in their bodies shortly after they are cured do not infect others, but in this case, the man, although a silent carrier, could infect other people, Jin said. 

Microbiologist Yuen Kwok-yung from the University of Hong Kong told the Global Times on Tuesday that the second infection has less symptoms or no symptoms in this case, but the viral load in the patient body is just as high as in any acute infection, meaning that the reinfected patient can be just as infectious as a patient who is infected the first time.

As the antibodies found in patients cured from the virus have a much better protective effect than COVID-19 vaccines in preventing them from being reinfected, the case showed that COVID-19 vaccines may fail to protect these recipients from being infected a second time, Jin said. 

The case reminded people that vaccines are not a once-and-for-all solution, and they most likely can only protect them from getting serious symptoms, and scientists have to keep researching and properly respond to this issue, according to Jin. 

8-28-20

An unnamed 25-year-old individual from Reno tested positive for the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 on April 18, and had symptoms including a sore throat, headache, nausea, and diarrhea, according to a pre-print study. By April 27 the symptoms had resolved, and two coronavirus tests came back negative on May 9. On 31 May, the patient reported having a fever, headache, feeling dizzy, as well as a cough, nausea and diarrhea. Five days later, the patient was hospitalized after their condition worsened, and tested positive for the coronavirus again. Samples from the patient also showed they had antibodies against the coronavirus.

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Hong Kong launch citywide testing.

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50 testing professionals from hospitals in South China’s Guangdong Province traveled to Hong Kong on Fri to help Hong Kong launch citywide testing.

HongKong will launch citywide COVID19 testing from Sep 1, which is expected to be completed within two weeks.
The HK govt will be responsible for sample collection, delivering samples, and the central govt will provide testing personnel and lab services. Without support of the central govt, Hong Kong cannot conduct the citywide testing

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Chinese virus fighters get top honor

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday signed a presidential order to award epidemiologist Zhong Nanshan the Medal of the Republic, the highest state honor, for his outstanding contributions in China’s fight against the COVID-19 epidemic. 

This is the second time for China to award the medal. The first was awarded last year to pharmaceutical chemist Tu Youyou, Yuan Longping, a Chinese agronomist and educator, and Shen Liangliang, a soldier of the Chinese peacekeeping force in Mali.

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Along with Zhong, China’s top medical adviser Zhang Boli, top Chinese vaccine researcher Chen Wei and Zhang Dingyu, dean of Wuhan Jinyintan Hospital, were awarded national honorary titles, “the People’s Hero.”

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Awarding the top honor to four prominent coronavirus fighters in China showcases the core spirit of the Chinese people in respecting science and professionalism – two key factors that helped the country win the battle against COVID-19, experts said.

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Putin says Russia’s Health Ministry has approved world’s FIRST Covid-19 vaccine

romo video shows ‘Sputnik V’ – world’s first registered Covid-19 vaccine – eradicating planet-sized coronavirus

Putin insisted that vaccination in Russia should only be carried out on a voluntary basis, with nobody forced to accept immunization. He also revealed that one of his daughters has already been vaccinated.

It is hoped the Russian vaccine will go into general circulation by January. In the meantime, front-line health workers and the medically vulnerable will be given priority, according to the Health Ministry.

Putin asked Health Minister Mikhail Murashko to provide more detailed information about the plans for immunization.  “I know that it works rather effectively, forms a stable immunity, and, I repeat, it passed all the necessary inspections,” the President added.
Vadim Tarasov, a top scientist at Moscow’s Sechenov University, where the trials took place said the country had a head start as it has spent the last 20 years developing skills in this field and trying to understand how viruses transmit. The technology behind the Russian vaccine is based upon adenovirus, the common cold. Created artificially, the vaccine proteins replicate those of Covid-19 and trigger “an immune response similar to that caused by the coronavirus itself,” Tarasov revealed.

俄罗斯莫斯科近郊泽列诺格勒，Binnopharm公司工厂
  • Coronavirus vaccine pre-orders top 5 billion in worldwide scramble for supplies.
  • Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte expects to be inoculated with Russia’s coronavirus vaccine by May, as the Southeast Asian nation is set to join clinical trials in October. A panel of local experts will review the results of Russia’s findings on its vaccine before large-scale human trials start in the Philippines, Duterte’s spokesman Harry Roque said Thursday. Russia will fund the clinical trial in the country, he said.
  • Russian officials in Moscow tell CNN they have offered “unprecedented cooperation” with Operation Warp Speed (OWS), the US multi-agency body set up to accelerate access to effective Covid-19 vaccines and treatments.But the officials told CNN that the “US is not currently open” to the Russian medical advances.”There is a general sense of mistrust of Russia on the American side and we believe that technologies — including vaccine, testing and treatments — are not being adopted in US because of that mistrust,” one senior Russian official told CNN.
  • Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnurin announced on his social media account that he had been vaccinated against the new coronavirus. 8-20-20.
  • The Lancet publishes study showing Russia’s ‘Sputnik V’ Covid-19 vaccine to be 100% effective. 9-4-20
  • 9-7-20 The first batch of Russia’s pioneering coronavirus formula Sputnik V has been approved for public use and has already been placed into circulation, the Ministry of Health in Moscow has announced.
  • 9-12-20 Russia will supply up to 50 million doses of the Sputnik V COVID19 vaccine to Brazil, said Russia’s sovereign wealth fund. Deliveries are expected to start in November.

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China’s first portable ECMO system begins registration process, brings hope for domestically-produced machines

A medical technology company in East China’s Jiangsu Province independently developed China’s first domestically-produced portable ECMO system, which has begun the registration process. 

The Saiteng OASSIST ECMO system was developed by Jiangsu Saiteng Medical Technology Co 江苏赛腾医疗科技有限公司 in Suzhou Industrial Park. The pre-charge amount of the pump head of the system is smaller with more even flow field compared with other ECMO machines, media reports said. 

This is also the only domestic ECMO system in China that has begun the registration process.

So far, the OASSIST ECMO system has finished several animal trials successfully. 

The system marks an opportunity for China to break free from its long-term dependence on importing these life-saving machines. 

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Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID19 vaccine

The UK’s AstraZeneca signed a deal with Shenzhen-based BioKangtai to cooperate on R&D, production and supply of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID19 vaccine in the Chinese mainland. BioKangtai will expand its annual production capacity to 100 million doses, reports said.

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World’s first COVID-19 vaccine production line wins approval

China made another breakthrough in battling the coronavirus pandemic, with China National Biotec Group (CNBG) announcing Wednesday that an inactivated COVID-19 vaccine production workshop of its affiliated Beijing institute of biological products, the first and largest of its kind in the world, has passed national examination.

The facility was granted a production certificate and it is now available for use, CNBG, an affiliate of the state-run China National Pharmaceutical Group, said in a statement sent to the Global Times. 

The Beijing institute took only two months to finish building the facility on April 15. Related government departments conducted a thorough biosecurity examination of the production workshop in July, and concluded the facility met national standards, and could go into operation for mass production of COVID-19 vaccines, read the statement. 

After the Beijing manufacturing workshop and another production facility belonging to CNBG’s Wuhan institute of biological products begin operations, CNBG will be capable of ensuring an annual capacity of 220 million doses of vaccines, according to its developer.

The 220 million doses are large to first immunize medical staff and personnel working at airports and border checkpoints, Tao Lina, a Shanghai-based vaccine researcher, told the Global Times Wednesday. 

“It is possible that China could have a COVID-19 vaccine as early as the end of October as some domestically made COVID-19 vaccines have entered phase three clinical trials and needs about a month to observe their effects on samples,” Tao said. 

After securing a certain amount of vaccine for China’s strategic reserves, exports can be considered, Tao noted, adding countries such as the Philippines and Brazil are potential destinations. 

Sinopharm is launching the fourth major COVID-19 vaccine trial in Brazil and will seek regulatory approval soon, Reuters reported on July 30. 

The company’s candidate vaccine is already being tested in the United Arab Emirates with 15,000 local volunteers, including UAE nationals and expatriates there, since middle July.

In another major step, German firm BioNTech and its Chinese partner Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical announced Wednesday that 72 trial participants have been dosed with BNT162b1, a COVID-19 vaccine candidate based on BioNTech’s mRNA technology, following the Chinese regulators’ examination and approval. The two firms are jointly developing the coronavirus vaccine candidate in China too.

In another sign of progress, scientists from the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions announced Monday a breakthrough in the development of a recombinant COVID-19 vaccine, envisioning the vaccine’s mass production to be feasible at a low cost in the future.

A spokesperson for Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said in late July that China has 13 firms that have begun capacity building for COVID-19 vaccines, and nine have been approved to start clinical trials.

Four of the nine firms are pushing for an inactivated vaccine technical route, three are focusing on nucleic acid vaccines, one is based on adenovirus vector vaccines and one has opted for recombinant protein vaccines, media reports say.

The nation’s advances in the research and manufacture of COVID-19 vaccines have been translated into remarkable gains in vaccine-related stocks on the A-share market. 

Shares in the Shanghai-listed Fosun Pharmaceutical soared by the 10 percent daily trading limit to close at 74.01 yuan Wednesday, having rallied 182 percent for the year. 

In another sign that the nation’s capital market is expected to fund its biotech capability, Hong Kong-traded CanSino Biologics is set to debut in the STAR Market tech board in Shanghai , making the vaccine maker the first dual-listed vaccine company in China .

CanSino Biologics revealed in late June that a recombinant novel COVID-19 vaccine it developed with a military research team has been granted a special one-year military drug approval.