The Chinese authorities this week announced that the lockdowns are being lifted in at least seven districts due to protest against the zero-COVID strategy of the government.&nbsp;As per the experts, the zero-COVID strategy of China was a good approach when the pandemic had begun because it managed&nbsp;to keep the number of cases low. 
 
But, in the last three years, the world has changed and health services are now fully prepared to provide Covid treatments and deal with outbreaks.

ALSO READ|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/almost-three-years-of-zero-covid-policy-takes-its-toll-on-chinas-coffers-local-government-cash-strapped-539884">Almost three years of zero-Covid policy takes its toll on China's coffers; local government cash strapped</a>

University of Southampton's epidemiologist Michael Head said, "We now have the tools to address COVID as a public health concern. We have vaccines, antiviral drugs and a huge amount of knowledge about how to treat people and manage outbreaks in the community.” 
 
The experts stated that other nations have been successful in creating a strong protection shield from COVID in the population with the help of less stringent lockdowns that allowed mass vaccination drives and people's natural exposure to the virus. 
 
"A small silver lining of the extensive spread of COVID in Europe is that we have a memory in our immune system. That's the theory, anyway," Head added. 
 
However, since zero-COVID policies have been strongly pursued by China since the beginning of the pandemic, their population managed to get very little exposure to the virus, especially the omicron variant which is highly contagious. 
 
China's ineffective vaccination programmes 
 
Experts believe that China needs to rely on vaccination for its successful transition into the phase of living with COVID. However, the vaccination programme of the country has not been effective so far, especially in the administration of booster vaccines to old age people. 
 
University of Nottingham's emeritus professor in epidemiology Keith Neal says, "Vaccines are great at giving you protection against severe illness, but they don't give you sterilising immunity. You need boosters to keep your immunity up.” 
 
Neal further explained that sterilising immunity is when the virus is prevented by the immune system from infecting the host, which further stops the transmission. Sterilising immunity is not provided by current vaccines. 
 
Till August 10, 2022, China's full vaccination rate was 85.6% and the rate of administered booster vaccination for adults aged 60 and above was only 67.8%, which is comparatively lower than in nations like Germany, where vaccination coverage was 91.2% and 85.9%, respectively. 
 
"There was a vaccine campaign in China that prioritised young people to keep workers healthy. Older people are less vaccinated than in other countries. This is a problem, as the risk of death from COVID-19 increases significantly with age," added Neal.

ALSO READ|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/china-unwilling-to-allow-effective-foreign-covid-vaccine-despite-the-protests-us-539816">China unwilling to allow 'effective' foreign COVID vaccine despite the protests: US</a>

Is China facing vaccine hesitancy? 
 
According to observers, the perfect time to implement mass vaccination strategies was when people were leaving their homes only to get food. So what is the reason behind lower booster rates in China? 
 
Experts believe that one reason can be vaccine hesitancy among adults. According to a study, vaccine hesitancy recorded among teachers is 32% in China. The study says that vaccine hesitancy is present due to concern among people about their personal safety. 
 
"Chinese vaccines (Sinovac and Sinopharm) are not bad, perhaps similar to AstraZeneca's vaccine, but have lower effectiveness than mRNA vaccines like [those from] Pfizer and Moderna, especially when it comes to omicron," Head said. 
 
He further added&nbsp;that distrust in the government and political affiliation are the reasons for vaccine hesitancy. The protests over zero-COVID strategies in China show that the trust of people in the authorities is at an all-time low. 
 
"Health promotion is going to be key going forward to increase vaccine uptake. How to do this is a tricky thing to solve, especially if it comes from a government many distrust," he added.

WATCH|&nbsp;

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Will China become a cooking pot for the new variant? 
 
Due to low booster administration in people belonging to at-risk groups and weak natural immunity, experts say that easing lockdowns at local levels can turn out disastrous for China, in the wake of population-level protection against the contagious omicron variant remaining low.

"Omicron has an R0 of 10, meaning it's highly infectious. Without sterilising immunity, you haven't got a cat in hell's chance of stopping it," Neal explained. 
 
Both experts believe that Chinese regions may have to face severe outbreaks of Covid. According to them, there will be a high rise in the number of Covid cases among those with low immunity along the long-term impact of the pandemic. 
 
Along with immediate concern regarding public health, there is also a risk of the development of new COVID variants and subvariants in an uncontrolled outbreak 
 
"Uncontrolled outbreak in China would increase the risk of the emergence of new variants. China and the world will be keeping an eye on this," Head stated. 
 
Will outbreaks in China affect other nations? 
 
Experts believe that travel restrictions in China can keep other countries from risk if there are any outbreaks. "There isn't a lot of travel in and out of China — it's like a giant island. So if new variants do appear, they're likely to stay contained," Neal said. 
 
Eventually, what will happen to people contained in China will depend on the Chinese Communist Party's political decisions. 
 
"China has a political problem here. They wedded themselves to zero-COVID. They wedded themselves to 'we have the best system in the world to look after you.' They wedded themselves to less effective Chinese vaccines," he added. 
 
Will China adopt less stringent lockdown measures and buy Western vaccines remains to be seen.

<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/live-tv/embed?autoplay=1&amp;mute=1" width="100%"></iframe>

The Chinese authorities this week announced that the lockdowns are being lifted in at least seven districts due to protest against the zero-COVID strategy of the government.

The Chinese authorities this week announced that the lockdowns are being lifted in at least seven districts due to protest against the zero-COVID strategy of the government. As per the experts, the zero-COVID strategy of China was a good approach when the pandemic had begun because it managed to keep the number of cases low. But, in the last three years, the world has changed and health services are now fully prepared to provide Covid treatments and deal with outbreaks. ALSO READ| Almost three years of zero-Covid policy takes its toll on China's coffers; local government cash strapped University of Southampton's epidemiologist Michael Head said, "We now have the tools to address COVID as a public health concern. We have vaccines, antiviral drugs and a huge amount of knowledge about how to treat people and manage outbreaks in the community.” The experts stated that other nations have been successful in creating a strong protection shield from COVID in the population with the help of less stringent lockdowns that allowed mass vaccination drives and people's natural exposure to the virus. "A small silver lining of the extensive spread of COVID in Europe is that we have a memory in our immune system. That's the theory, anyway," Head added. However, since zero-COVID policies have been strongly pursued by China since the beginning of the pandemic, their population managed to get very little exposure to the virus, especially the omicron variant which is highly contagious. China's ineffective vaccination programmes Experts believe that China needs to rely on vaccination for its successful transition into the phase of living with COVID. However, the vaccination programme of the country has not been effective so far, especially in the administration of booster vaccines to old age people. University of Nottingham's emeritus professor in epidemiology Keith Neal says, "Vaccines are great at giving you protection against severe illness, but they don't give you sterilising immunity. You need boosters to keep your immunity up.” Neal further explained that sterilising immunity is when the virus is prevented by the immune system from infecting the host, which further stops the transmission. Sterilising immunity is not provided by current vaccines. Till August 10, 2022, China's full vaccination rate was 85.6% and the rate of administered booster vaccination for adults aged 60 and above was only 67.8%, which is comparatively lower than in nations like Germany, where vaccination coverage was 91.2% and 85.9%, respectively. "There was a vaccine campaign in China that prioritised young people to keep workers healthy. Older people are less vaccinated than in other countries. This is a problem, as the risk of death from COVID-19 increases significantly with age," added Neal. ALSO READ| China unwilling to allow 'effective' foreign COVID vaccine despite the protests: US Is China facing vaccine hesitancy? According to observers, the perfect time to implement mass vaccination strategies was when people were leaving their homes only to get food. So what is the reason behind lower booster rates in China? Experts believe that one reason can be vaccine hesitancy among adults. According to a study, vaccine hesitancy recorded among teachers is 32% in China. The study says that vaccine hesitancy is present due to concern among people about their personal safety. "Chinese vaccines (Sinovac and Sinopharm) are not bad, perhaps similar to AstraZeneca's vaccine, but have lower effectiveness than mRNA vaccines like [those from] Pfizer and Moderna, especially when it comes to omicron," Head said. He further added that distrust in the government and political affiliation are the reasons for vaccine hesitancy. The protests over zero-COVID strategies in China show that the trust of people in the authorities is at an all-time low. "Health promotion is going to be key going forward to increase vaccine uptake. How to do this is a tricky thing to solve, especially if it comes from a government many distrust," he added. WATCH| Will China become a cooking pot for the new variant? Due to low booster administration in people belonging to at-risk groups and weak natural immunity, experts say that easing lockdowns at local levels can turn out disastrous for China, in the wake of population-level protection against the contagious omicron variant remaining low. "Omicron has an R0 of 10, meaning it's highly infectious. Without sterilising immunity, you haven't got a cat in hell's chance of stopping it," Neal explained. Both experts believe that Chinese regions may have to face severe outbreaks of Covid. According to them, there will be a high rise in the number of Covid cases among those with low immunity along the long-term impact of the pandemic. Along with immediate concern regarding public health, there is also a risk of the development of new COVID variants and subvariants in an uncontrolled outbreak "Uncontrolled outbreak in China would increase the risk of the emergence of new variants. China and the world will be keeping an eye on this," Head stated. Will outbreaks in China affect other nations? Experts believe that travel restrictions in China can keep other countries from risk if there are any outbreaks. "There isn't a lot of travel in and out of China — it's like a giant island. So if new variants do appear, they're likely to stay contained," Neal said. Eventually, what will happen to people contained in China will depend on the Chinese Communist Party's political decisions. "China has a political problem here. They wedded themselves to zero-COVID. They wedded themselves to 'we have the best system in the world to look after you.' They wedded themselves to less effective Chinese vaccines," he added. Will China adopt less stringent lockdown measures and buy Western vaccines remains to be seen.

China may face COVID-19 disaster if harsh lockdowns lifted, experts predict

Many mild or adverse side effects that people experience after taking the Covid vaccine are caused by “nocebo effect” – a negative version of the placebo effect – a new study has claimed.

A placebo effect occurs when a person’s health improves after taking treatment with no pharmacological therapeutic benefit, such as a sugar pill, or a syringe full of saline. Whereas under the nocebo effect, individuals experience unpleasant side effects after a similar treatment, the scientists at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) in the US said.

In a study published on Tuesday in&nbsp;<a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2788172">JAMA Network Open</a>, scientists found that the “nocebo effect” accounted for about 76 per cent of all common adverse reactions after the first dose and nearly 52 per cent after the second dose

For the placebo recipients, headache, fatigue, and arm pain were the most common side effects reported.

In the 12 trials, the researchers say, adverse effects were reported by 22,578 placebo recipients and 22,802 vaccine recipients.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/naftali-bennett-says-israeli-study-finds-fourth-covid-19-vaccine-dose-boosts-antibodies-five-fold-442256">Naftali Bennett says Israeli study finds fourth COVID-19 vaccine dose boosts antibodies five-fold</a>

Over 35 per cent of placebo recipients reported experiencing symptoms affecting the entire body, such as fever – with headache and fatigue most common at 19.6 per cent and 16.7 per cent.

In view of the results, the researchers have argued for better public information about nocebo responses to help shed vaccine hesitancy.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/astrazenecas-covid-vaccine-immunity-declines-after-3-months-says-lancet-study-438907">AstraZeneca’s Covid vaccine immunity declines after 3 months, says Lancet study</a>

“Nonspecific symptoms like headache and fatigue – which we have shown to be particularly nocebo sensitive – are listed among the most common adverse reactions following COVID-19 vaccination in many information leaflets,” the study’s senior author Ted J Kaptchuk, professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, said in a statement.

“Evidence suggests that this sort of information may cause people to misattribute common daily background sensations as arising from the vaccine or cause anxiety and worry that make people hyper-alert to bodily feelings about adverse events,” he added.

The study estimated that nocebo could account for nearly half of the side effects reported after the second dose.

(With inputs from agencies)

Many mild or adverse side effects that people experience after taking the Covid vaccine are caused by “nocebo effect” – a negative version of the placebo effect – a new study has claimed.

Many mild or adverse side effects that people experience after taking the Covid vaccine are caused by “nocebo effect” – a negative version of the placebo effect – a new study has claimed. A placebo effect occurs when a person’s health improves after taking treatment with no pharmacological therapeutic benefit, such as a sugar pill, or a syringe full of saline. Whereas under the nocebo effect, individuals experience unpleasant side effects after a similar treatment, the scientists at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) in the US said. In a study published on Tuesday in JAMA Network Open, scientists found that the “nocebo effect” accounted for about 76 per cent of all common adverse reactions after the first dose and nearly 52 per cent after the second dose For the placebo recipients, headache, fatigue, and arm pain were the most common side effects reported. In the 12 trials, the researchers say, adverse effects were reported by 22,578 placebo recipients and 22,802 vaccine recipients. Also read | Naftali Bennett says Israeli study finds fourth COVID-19 vaccine dose boosts antibodies five-fold Over 35 per cent of placebo recipients reported experiencing symptoms affecting the entire body, such as fever – with headache and fatigue most common at 19.6 per cent and 16.7 per cent. In view of the results, the researchers have argued for better public information about nocebo responses to help shed vaccine hesitancy. Also read | AstraZeneca’s Covid vaccine immunity declines after 3 months, says Lancet study “Nonspecific symptoms like headache and fatigue – which we have shown to be particularly nocebo sensitive – are listed among the most common adverse reactions following COVID-19 vaccination in many information leaflets,” the study’s senior author Ted J Kaptchuk, professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, said in a statement. “Evidence suggests that this sort of information may cause people to misattribute common daily background sensations as arising from the vaccine or cause anxiety and worry that make people hyper-alert to bodily feelings about adverse events,” he added. The study estimated that nocebo could account for nearly half of the side effects reported after the second dose. (With inputs from agencies)

‘Nocebo’ effect, not Covid vaccine causing adverse reactions, claims study

Vaccine hesitancy, in other words, delay or refusal to take a vaccine, is more common than thought. It is the biggest threat to global vaccine rollout. Bigger than shortage and side effects.

Vaccine hesitancy is as old as vaccines themselves. There is no single reason for it. In some places, hesitancy is based on religion. Elsewhere, it is politics. But whatever the reason,&nbsp;the end result is never good.

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Look at some of the examples from history. These are all instances where vaccine hesitancy led to outbreaks.

In 1873 in Stockholm, vaccination rate dropped from 90 per cent&nbsp;to 40 per cent. It was triggered by a religious anti-vax campaign.

A deadly smallpox epidemic spread that same year.

Another example is from UK and Ireland. In year 2000, people started linking the measles vaccine to Autism. The vaccination rates dropped below 80 per cent. There were 300 cases, 100 hospitalisations and three deaths. All of this was preventable.

The bottomline is that vaccine hesitancy is dangerous. Deadly in fact. The World Health Organisation (WHO) ranks it as one of the top 10 global health threats.

A proper messaging right from the top can beat this threat.

One would expect WHO to give facts and robust advice. Instead, there is confusion and conjecture.

On Saturday, WHO's Chief Scientist Soumya Swaminathan was talking about Wuhan virus variant detected in India.

"The one (variant) that was first identified in India,&nbsp;the B 1.617 is likely to be a variant of concern because it has some mutations, which increase transmission, and which also potentially could make them resistant to antibodies that are generated by vaccination or by natural infection," she said.

'Likely' and 'potentially' are the words you don't want health experts to say. Because this is in the realm of possibility.

Words have consequences, especially when coming from the WHO's top scientist. She says the new variants may evade the vaccines. There are a lot of people undecided on whether to get the shot. And those people may be swayed by such remarks. They may think if the WHO says it's pointless, why take it?

This is irresponsible, not to mention dangerous. When top officials make such careless remarks, it becomes our duty to set the record straight.

The vaccines are safe and effective. Variant or not,&nbsp;make sure you get the shot at the earliest.

And can the variant really dodge the vaccine?

Last week India's top medical body ICMR published a study. It concluded that Bharat Biotech's Covaxin was effective against the double mutant.

So was the WHO not aware of this study? Or did they choose to ignore it? Or do they disagree with it?

Messaging and response from WHO has been botched up from the word go. WHO did nothing for more than a month when it got news of the virus in December 2019.

It was on January 30 that Dr Tedros finally declare a public health emergency. It took him another month to utter the word pandemic. A lot of harm was done during this time. Some countries banned travel links with China. They were declared racist by the WHO. Dr Tedros called these bans an unnecessary interference. One year later, those countries stand vindicated.

What about lockdowns? The WHO's envoy David Nabarro said lockdowns should be the last resort. Today this is true because we have vaccines. But last year, this advice made no sense. Lockdowns were humanity's first line of defence. It was a circuit breaker for countries to build up resources.

But nothing compares to the WHO's advice on masks.

The headline saying "Face masks could do more harm than good if used incorrectly" is a classic example of negative advice.

The WHO is trying to ask people to wear their masks correctly, but the statement does the opposite. It scares them.

They instead should have made a campaign video on how to wear masks correctly. This is communication 101. Positive messages stick, negative don't.&nbsp;

These are just a few instances where the WHO stumbled. Unfortunately, it happened all the time last year. From masks to lockdowns to travel bans to now vaccines.

The WHO has been like a loose cannon. Firing off assumptions and conjectures. These things are normally expected from politicians and not from health experts.

But then again, the WHO stopped being a health body in 2020.

Vaccine hesitancy, in other words, delay or refusal to take a vaccine, is more common than thought. It is the biggest threat to global vaccine rollout. Bigger than shortage and side effects.

Vaccine hesitancy, in other words, delay or refusal to take a vaccine, is more common than thought. It is the biggest threat to global vaccine rollout. Bigger than shortage and side effects. Vaccine hesitancy is as old as vaccines themselves. There is no single reason for it. In some places, hesitancy is based on religion. Elsewhere, it is politics. But whatever the reason, the end result is never good. × Look at some of the examples from history. These are all instances where vaccine hesitancy led to outbreaks. In 1873 in Stockholm, vaccination rate dropped from 90 per cent to 40 per cent. It was triggered by a religious anti-vax campaign. A deadly smallpox epidemic spread that same year. Another example is from UK and Ireland. In year 2000, people started linking the measles vaccine to Autism. The vaccination rates dropped below 80 per cent. There were 300 cases, 100 hospitalisations and three deaths. All of this was preventable. The bottomline is that vaccine hesitancy is dangerous. Deadly in fact. The World Health Organisation (WHO) ranks it as one of the top 10 global health threats. A proper messaging right from the top can beat this threat. One would expect WHO to give facts and robust advice. Instead, there is confusion and conjecture. On Saturday, WHO's Chief Scientist Soumya Swaminathan was talking about Wuhan virus variant detected in India. "The one (variant) that was first identified in India, the B 1.617 is likely to be a variant of concern because it has some mutations, which increase transmission, and which also potentially could make them resistant to antibodies that are generated by vaccination or by natural infection," she said. 'Likely' and 'potentially' are the words you don't want health experts to say. Because this is in the realm of possibility. Words have consequences, especially when coming from the WHO's top scientist. She says the new variants may evade the vaccines. There are a lot of people undecided on whether to get the shot. And those people may be swayed by such remarks. They may think if the WHO says it's pointless, why take it? This is irresponsible, not to mention dangerous. When top officials make such careless remarks, it becomes our duty to set the record straight. The vaccines are safe and effective. Variant or not, make sure you get the shot at the earliest. And can the variant really dodge the vaccine? Last week India's top medical body ICMR published a study. It concluded that Bharat Biotech's Covaxin was effective against the double mutant. So was the WHO not aware of this study? Or did they choose to ignore it? Or do they disagree with it? Messaging and response from WHO has been botched up from the word go. WHO did nothing for more than a month when it got news of the virus in December 2019. It was on January 30 that Dr Tedros finally declare a public health emergency. It took him another month to utter the word pandemic. A lot of harm was done during this time. Some countries banned travel links with China. They were declared racist by the WHO. Dr Tedros called these bans an unnecessary interference. One year later, those countries stand vindicated. What about lockdowns? The WHO's envoy David Nabarro said lockdowns should be the last resort. Today this is true because we have vaccines. But last year, this advice made no sense. Lockdowns were humanity's first line of defence. It was a circuit breaker for countries to build up resources. But nothing compares to the WHO's advice on masks. The headline saying "Face masks could do more harm than good if used incorrectly" is a classic example of negative advice. The WHO is trying to ask people to wear their masks correctly, but the statement does the opposite. It scares them. They instead should have made a campaign video on how to wear masks correctly. This is communication 101. Positive messages stick, negative don't. These are just a few instances where the WHO stumbled. Unfortunately, it happened all the time last year. From masks to lockdowns to travel bans to now vaccines. The WHO has been like a loose cannon. Firing off assumptions and conjectures. These things are normally expected from politicians and not from health experts. But then again, the WHO stopped being a health body in 2020.

Clear message from top is needed to battle vaccine hesitancy

Top W.H.O officials are pushing assumptions and conjectures on vaccine efficacy amid a deadly second wave in India. Instead of speculating vaccine efficacy on virus variants, shouldn't the W.H.O be fighting for universal vaccination? Palki Sharma tells you more.

Gravitas: Is the W.H.O feeding vaccine hesitancy?

vaccine-hesitancy

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