Thousands of COVID-19 testing booths have popped up on sidewalks across Beijing and other Chinese cities in the latest twist to the country’s “zero-COVID” strategy.
Lines form every day, rain or shine, even where the spread of the virus has largely stopped. Some people need to go to work. Others want to shop. All are effectively compelled to get tested by a requirement to show a negative test result to enter office buildings, malls and other public places.
Liu Lele, who works for a live-streaming company, has no problem getting tested regularly but said the daytime operating hours don’t always fit his schedule.
“Sometimes I get held up at work,” he said after finishing a test Thursday near Beijing’s historic Bell and Drum towers. “I wish there were sites open 24 hours or not closing until 7 or 8 p.m.”
Regular testing of residents is becoming the new normal as the ruling Communist Party sticks steadfastly to a “zero-COVID” approach that is increasingly at odds with the rest of the world.
Major cities have been told to set up testing stations within a 15-minute walk for all residents. Beijing and Shanghai alone have put up 10,000 or more each. Many of them are enclosed square booths from which gloved workers reach out through openings to take a quick throat swab from the next person in line.
Many cities including Beijing are requiring a negative test result within the last three days to enter a public place or take the bus or subway. Some have made it a week or 10 days. The tests are free, with the result reflected on the person’s smartphone health app roughly 12 hours later.
“This is something we should do,” said Beijing retiree Wang Shiyuan, who gets tested every three days in case he needs to go to the supermarket or take a bus. “Only when everyone obeys the requirements can we reduce the risk of transmission.”
The move follows a recent outbreak in Shanghai that spread so widely that authorities locked down the entire city for two months to end it, trapping millions of people and dealing a blow to the national economy.
China kept the virus largely at bay for a year and a half with targeted lockdowns of buildings and neighborhoods and quarantining infected people, but the rapidly spreading omicron variant proved more difficult to stop. More than 580 people died in Shanghai — a large number in a country that had reported only a handful of deaths after an initial deadly outbreak in Wuhan in early 2020.
Andy Chen, a senior analyst with the Trivium China consultancy, said the proliferation of testing sites is a reaction to the failure of existing measures to control omicron in Shanghai, though officials have not explicitly said so.
Authorities have decided that early detection is needed if they are going to control omicron outbreaks without extreme measures that cause major economic disruption.
“The regular testing requirements are meant to improve the zero-COVID strategy,” Chen said in an email response. “The end goal is to keep the virus under control while avoiding another Shanghai-like lockdown.”
Many other countries, faced with populations weary of pandemic restrictions and eager to move on, are betting that rising vaccination rates and the development of treatments for COVID-19 mean they can avoid lockdowns and other disruptive steps and live with the virus instead.
China’s leaders have repeatedly signaled that they believe the “zero-COVID” approach remains the right one for China, even as they try to boost a flagging economy with business tax refunds, easier credit and spending on infrastructure projects.
Entry to the country remains restricted, with visas difficult to get and few international flights, making it costly and hard to get a seat. Anyone who does enter has to quarantine in a hotel, usually for two weeks. Chinese generally can’t leave the country unless it is for work or study.
Most analysts expect the zero-COVID policies to remain in place at least until after a major Communist Party congress this fall at which leader Xi Jinping is expected to get a third five-year term. The party touted its approach as a success when COVID-19 was ravaging other countries, and it doesn’t want a major outbreak in the run-up to its meeting.
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Associated Press researcher Yu Bing and video producer Olivia Zhang in Beijing and researcher Si Chen in Shanghai contributed.
A COVID-19 vaccine that could soon win federal approval may offer a boost for the U.S. military: an opportunity to get shots into some of the thousands of service members who have refused other coronavirus vaccines for religious reasons.
At least 175 active duty and reserve service members have already received the Novavax vaccine, some even traveling overseas at their own expense to get it. The vaccine meets Defense Department requirements because it has the World Health Organization’s emergency use approval and is used in Europe and other regions. The Food and Drug Administration is considering giving it emergency use authorization in the U.S.
The Novavax vaccine may be an acceptable option for some of the 27,000 service members who have sought religious exemptions from the mandatory vaccine. Military officials say many troops who refuse the shots cite certain COVID-19 vaccines’ remote connection to abortions.
Laboratory-grown cell lines descended from fetuses that were aborted decades ago were used in some early-stage testing of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines and to grow viruses used to manufacture the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. The vaccines do not contain fetal cells. Novavax, however, says that ”no human fetal-derived cell lines or tissue” were used in the development, manufacture or production of its vaccine.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin made COVID-19 vaccinations mandatory last year, saying the shots were critical to maintaining military readiness and the health of the force. Military leaders have argued that troops for decades have been required to get as many as 17 vaccines, particularly for those who are deploying overseas.
One group involved in lawsuits targeting the military’s vaccine requirement said it’s possible some shot opponents may see Novavax as an amenable option.
“I definitely think it is for some, but certainly not for all,” said Mike Berry, director of military affairs for First Liberty Institute. “There are some for whom abortion is really the ultimate issue, and once that issue is resolved for them spiritually, then they’re willing.”
Berry added, however, that for others, abortion is “just a tangential issue,” and they have broader opposition to vaccines as a whole. “A rudimentary way of looking at it is that they’ve asked for God’s will, and they believe that it would be wrong for them to get the vaccine,” Berry said. “In other words, they believe that God has told them no.”
Novavax also may appeal to people who are uncomfortable with the new genetic-based technology used in Pfizer and Moderna’s so-called mRNA vaccines. They deliver genetic instructions for the body to make copies of the coronavirus’ outer coating, the spike protein.
The Novavax vaccine is made with a more familiar technology, like those used for years to prevent hepatitis B and shingles. It trains the body to fight the coronavirus by delivering copies of the outer coating which are grown in insect cells, then are purified and packaged into nanoparticles that to the immune system resemble a virus, according to Novavax research chief Dr. Gregory Glenn.
While some religious groups oppose the shots, when COVID-19 vaccines first started rolling out the Vatican’s doctrine office called the options “morally acceptable” and Pope Francis, who has received Pfizer shots, has strongly encouraged widespread vaccination.
Berry said he doesn’t know how many would consider Novavax acceptable, but guessed it may be a small percentage. First Liberty Institute and the law firm Schaerr Jaffe LLP are representing a number of Navy sailors in one lawsuit, and nine airmen in another.
Military officials declined to publicly detail the nature of any service members’ religious exemption requests, but spoke on condition of anonymity to provide some descriptions. They said that the most predominant issue mentioned in waiver requests is the remote link to fetal cell lines, while others argue that their body is a temple that must remain pure. Others, officials said, describe reasons that appear to have less connection to faith.
Berry said his firm carefully screens individuals for the lawsuits, to make sure their objections are based on sincerely held religious beliefs, rather than political or other opposition masquerading as faith-based views.
The military can’t administer the Novavax shot now, and won’t pay for anyone’s travel overseas to get it. But tens of thousands of American forces are based in Europe, where Novavax is available.
Earlier this week, advisers to the FDA backed the Novavax vaccine. Next, the FDA must decide whether to authorize it. A final FDA decision isn’t expected immediately, as the agency finishes combing through the data.
Across the military, more than 5,000 service members have been discharged for refusing the vaccine, according to the latest statistics provided by the services. Of those who requested religious exemptions, only slightly more than 100 have been approved.
In the lawsuit against the Navy, a federal judge in Texas agreed the case can go forward as a class-action lawsuit and issued a preliminary injunction barring the service from taking action against sailors who objected to the vaccine on religious grounds. Berry said the Justice Department has said it will appeal the ruling to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals.
In the Air Force lawsuit, Berry said, lawyers have asked that it also be a class action, and they are seeking a temporary restraining order preventing the Air Force from taking any adverse actions. The court has not yet ruled.
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AP Medical Writer Lauran Neergaard contributed to this report.
Total Doses Distributed = 752,781,755. Total Doses Administered = 589,852,206. Number of People Receiving 1 or More Doses = 258,881,611. Number of People Fully Vaccinated = 221,567,092.
Authorities in Germany should prepare for several possible pandemic scenarios this fall that would likely strain the country’s health system and critical infrastructure, an expert panel said Wednesday.
The government-appointed panel said the country continues to have immunity gaps in the population, and it recommended promoting vaccines against the coronavirus and making them more easily available.
The panel advised authorities to ensure that testing facilities can be scaled up quickly in the fall and also said COVID-19 patients also should get earlier access to antiviral drugs.
The experts urged the German government to provide a clear legal foundation for any public health restrictions it might decide to put in place, especially if a dangerous new variant emerges.
They also recommended developing a “fundamental strategy” for dealing with infection-related disruptions to schools. The experts noted chaotic efforts to keep students learning despite school closures during the early stages of the pandemic.
The number of new coronavirus cases and deaths reported globally fell everywhere last week except the Middle East and Southeast Asia, according to the World Health Organization.
In its latest weekly update on the pandemic, the U.N. health agency said Wednesday that confirmed cases dropped 12% to more than 3 million and reported deaths declined 22% to about 7,600.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus described the continuing decline of COVID-19, which peaked in January, as “a very encouraging trend.”
Still, he warned that the pandemic was not yet over and urged caution, even as many countries have dropped their coronavirus protocols and shifted into trying to live with the virus.
Tedros noted that 18 months after the first mass coronavirus immunization programs began in rich countries, 68 countries around the world have yet to protect 40% of their people. While enough vaccines are now available, demand has fallen, he said.
“The perception that the pandemic is over is understandable, but misguided,” the WHO chief said. “A new and even more dangerous variant could emerge at any time, and vast numbers of people remain unprotected.”
WHO’s pandemic report noted that new weekly cases rose 19% in the Middle East and inched up 1% in Southeast Asia, while falling everywhere else. The number of deaths increased 7% in the Western Pacific and dropped elsewhere in the world last week.
WHO has previously noted that the numbers are likely to be an underestimate and are dependent on countries’ testing and reporting strategies. Last week, WHO’s emergencies chief Dr. Michael Ryan said the COVID-19 outbreak in North Korea was getting worse, not better.
Despite multiple offers of help, including vaccines, North Korea has not accepted any offers of aid from WHO and has yet to share more detailed information about how the outbreak is evolving there.
The Biden administration said Wednesday that a funding crunch is forcing it to divert more than $10 billion in coronavirus relief from test procurement and other efforts as it tries to come up with money to secure the next generation of vaccines and treatments for some high-risk Americans.
The White House said it has been left with “no choice” but to cut back on orders of at-home rapid tests that have supported a domestic manufacturing base for the easy diagnostic tests. It also is scaling back funding for research and development of new COVID-19 vaccines and limiting orders of personal protective equipment in an effort to maintain some stockpiles of vaccines and treatments for Americans heading into the winter.
Even then, the Democratic administration says, there will only be enough money available to provide treatments and vaccines to some people. It urged Congress to act to provide enough money to secure doses for all who might want or need them.
“The administration has to act because Congress won’t,” the White House said in a statement. “These trade-offs we are being forced to make because of Congress will have serious consequences on the development of next-generation vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics, domestic vaccine production capacity, stockpiling of PPE and the procurement of tests and testing supplies for federally qualified and community health centers.”
The White House said the “unacceptable” trade-offs were due to congressional inaction.
It was not immediately clear which vaccines and treatments the administration was seeking to secure with the limited funding — including whether the administration was placing orders for potential multivalent vaccines that would protect against both the original COVID-19 strain and offer targeted protection against some variants. The White House also didn’t say how many doses of vaccines would be acquired, citing contracting requirements for the lack of clarity.
The administration said the Wednesday moves would shift $5 billion to buy COVID-19 vaccine doses for the fall, $4.9 billion for 10 million Paxlovid oral antiviral treatment courses and $300 million for the purchase of additional monoclonal antibody treatments.
The Biden administration has been warning for months of the potential for rationing and other tough trade-offs if Congress doesn’t act to provide additional funding, saying that it would cost lives as people’s immunity from booster doses or from prior infection wane.
Lawmakers in March appeared near a deal for $10 billion of the $22.5 billion that President Joe Biden has requested, but negotiations broke down over Biden’s plans to end pandemic-related public health restrictions on U.S. borders that severely curtailed migration. Though that move has been blocked by a federal judge, lawmakers have appeared no closer to reaching a deal.
The White House has said that if it doesn’t act swiftly to secure vaccines, other nations will lock in their own places in line ahead of the U.S. That would reverse the trend of the U.S. being among the first nations, if not the first nation, to market vaccines and life-saving COVID-19 treatments like Paxlovid.
