On December 18, Zhang Wenhong, director of the National Center for Infectious Diseases, attended the Guangdong Public Health Forum online, saying that the mutation of the new coronavirus has stabilized, and it is becoming more and more difficult to produce viruses with stronger transmission power. The epidemic is transitioning from a pandemic to an epidemic. Seasonal and endemic.
Zhang Wenhong said that after the new coronavirus continues to mutate, the virulence is greatly reduced, and the vaccination reaches a certain level, China will optimize and improve the epidemic prevention and control measures, and will gradually get out of the epidemic.
Although the current peak of the epidemic is very high, it tends to be controllable.
"Our current time point of 'coming out' is just from the 'pandemic phase' to the 'endemic or seasonal epidemic' phase. In the future, due to extensive immunization and natural infection, the mixed immunity formed by the two The barrier has a very strong effect on the prevention and control of the Omicron mutant strain." Zhang Wenhong said.
In Zhang Wenhong's view, as time goes by, when the comprehensive effect caused by this immunity gradually weakens, a new wave of infections will occur, but the number of new waves of infections will not be as high as before, and the case fatality rate It will also be lower.
He said that the probability of a sudden large mutation occurring during such a transition period, say back to the delta mutant strain, is very low, because evolution never goes backwards.
"We don't doubt that there will be new mutant strains that jump out of the Omicron family in the future, but because the human body's immunity still has a strong cross-immune response to the new virus strains, this will make the epidemic into a seasonal flu-like Popular model." Zhang Wenhong said.
(Reporter Cai Minjie made Yue Ziyan)
Editor in charge: [Ji Xiang]
