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Germany’s health policy has set the goal of reaching an endemic state. Its advent marks the long-awaited end of the pandemic. Covid would then be similar to the common cold. Since everyone has basic immunity from vaccinations or infections, any subsequent outbreaks would then hopefully differ little from the flu season.
For China, too, the transition to endemicity would bring an end to lockdowns, curfews, and mass testing. But immunity is still lacking. China’s vaccines do work against Omicron – but its effectiveness is limited. A booster by Biontech would provide a solution. But despite existing contracts with the Fosun Group, the German vaccine has not yet been approved. Our analysis tracks down the reasons.
Another once highly praised German-Chinese partnership is also currently dead in the water. As a result, Daimler is largely withdrawing from the unsuccessful Denza joint venture with BYD. Yet there is an uneven balance of power, analyzes Frank Sieren. In China, Daimler is desperately dependent on a technologically strong partner like BYD, while the latter is also one of the most successful players on its own.
Finn Mayer-Kuckuk
Feature
The long wait for a Biontech approval in China
The Omicron variant is putting China’s health policy under considerable pressure (China.Table reported). Although the numbers in Xi’an are currently declining again, new foci of infection are flaring up in other places. The fact the virus is becoming more contiguous poses problems for the zero-covid strategy. One possible way out would be to vaccinate the population with mRNA vaccines and then lift all quarantine measures. The population could then build up immunity to Omicron.
But China has blocked the path to endemicity in several places. This is what scientists call an occasional and rather harmless flare-up of infections. This requires widespread baseline immunity among the population. One roadblock to this is the fact that China has made freedom from the virus a high political goal. It has long become a measure of the party’s success. The other blockade is the preference for its own vaccine.
The preference for their own products is understandable, but also problematic in the current situation. “The inactivated vaccines that were administered in China, i.e. a dead virus, unfortunately, have a very poor efficacy against Omicron.,” said German virologist Christian Drosten of Charité on Deutschlandfunk radio. He believes a booster vaccination with Biontech or Moderna would be sensible. “If you add an mRNA vaccine to it now, then you will once again gain a sufficient effect.”
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