China’s ‘Dr Fauci’ tries to boost Covid-19 vaccination drive
- Zhang Wenhong, who has become one of the country’s most-trusted medical experts, tells social media followers ‘we need to keep at it’ to beat disease
- In recent weeks Beijing’s priority has shifted from exporting vaccines to its drive to inoculate its own population
One of China’s most trusted medical experts has urged the public to get their Covid-19 jabs as soon as possible as Beijing’s priorities shift from vaccine diplomacy to mass inoculation at home.
Zhang, the director of Shanghai’s Huashan Hospital’s department of infectious diseases, wrote: “Since June 11 2021, the whole country has totalled 860 million jabs, leading the world early on. However, the proportion of those that have received two doses is still relatively low. We need to keep at it.
“Only by completing the widespread roll-out of the vaccine can an obstacle against the virus be built up, once the virus enters, even if it’s a variant, the speed of its transmission will be weakened by a large degree.
“It will then allow us to take targeted prevention and control measures in a calm manner to greatly reduce the virus’s harmfulness and to maintain the normal openness and operation of the world.”
Zhang’s post, titled “Summary of Clinical Trial Data on Covid-19 variants, a Reminder that Mankind Can Still Win this Protracted War”, comes as mutations of the coronavirus have caused a spate of new outbreaks across the world, including in mainland China and Taiwan.