China calls COVID ‘lab leak’ theory a lie after WHO report
China on Friday attacked the theory that the coronavirus pandemic may have originated as a leak from a Chinese laboratory as a politically motivated lie
BEIJING (AP) — China on Friday attacked the theory that the coronavirus pandemic may have originated as a leak from a Chinese laboratory as a politically motivated lie, after the World Health Organization recommended in its strongest terms yet that a deeper probe is needed into whether a lab accident may be to blame. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian also rejected accusations that China had not fully cooperated with investigators, saying it welcomed a science-based probe but rejected any political manipulation. He also reiterated calls for an investigation into “highly suspicious laboratories such as Fort Detrick and the University of North Carolina” in the United States where China has suggested, without evidence, that the U.S. was developing the coronavirus as a bioweapon. “The lab leak theory is totally a lie concocted by anti-China forces for political purposes, which has nothing to do with science,” Zhao said at a daily briefing.“We always supported and participated in science-based global virus tracing, but we firmly opposed any forms of political manipulation,” he said, repeating China’s long-standing explanation for delaying or rejecting further investigations into the virus’s origins.Zhao said China has made major contributions toward virus tracing, sharing the most data and research results. That “fully reflects China’s open, transparent and responsible attitude, as well as its support for the work of the WHO and the advisory group,” he said. The WHO’s stance in a report released Thursday is a sharp reversal of the U.N. health agency’s initial assessment of the pandemic’s origins. It comes after many critics accused WHO of being too quick to dismiss or underplay a lab-leak theory that put Chinese officials on the defensive. Following a tightly controlled visit to China last year, the WHO concluded that it was “extremely unlikely” the coronavirus might have spread to humans from a lab in the city of Wuhan. Many scientists suspect the coronavirus jumped from bats to people, possibly via another animal. However, in the Thursday report, WHO’s expert group said “key pieces of data” to explain how the pandemic began were still missing. The scientists said the group would “remain open to any and all scientific evidence that becomes available in the future to allow for comprehensive testing of all reasonable hypotheses.” Identifying a disease’s source in animals typically takes years. It took more than a decade for scientists to pinpoint the species of bats that were the natural reservoir for SARS, a relative of COVID-19. The expert group also noted that since lab accidents in the past have triggered some outbreaks, the theory could not be discounted. They said China has not presented any studies to WHO that assessed the possibility of the coronavirus resulting from a laboratory leak. The new report is indicative of a more confrontational relationship between China’s authoritarian Communist leadership and the WHO, which had initially been accused of being overly deferential to Beijing, particularly by the former U.S. Trump administration.The coronavirus has killed more than 6.3 million people worldwide, forced dozens of countries into lockdown and upended the world economy. It was first detected in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019 and was initially linked to a traditional market where wild animals were sold for food. China was accused of responding slowly and covering up the extent of the outbreak, before it locked down the entire city of Wuhan and surrounding areas in the first of a series of draconian measures labeled “zero-COVID” which continue today as much of the rest of the world is opening up again. Last month, the WHO called “zero-COVID” unsustainable, pointing to increased knowledge of the virus and the cost to the economy and civil rights. China rejected the criticism as “irresponsible.” China was also accused of leading a disinformation campaign, suggesting the virus was detected elsewhere before the Wuhan outbreak and putting forward other theories aimed at diverting attention from China. Investigations by The Associated Press found that some top WHO insiders were frustrated by China during the initial outbreak even as WHO heaped praise on Chinese President Xi Jinping. They were also upset over how China sought to clamp down on research into the origins of COVID-19. Zhao appeared to imply that China would reject any criticisms or suspicions of it. “Research on the origin of the virus must adhere to scientific principles and should not be subject to political interference,” Zhao said.
China on Friday attacked the theory that the coronavirus pandemic may have originated as a leak from a Chinese laboratory as a politically motivated lie
GENEVA, September 27: The World Health Organization (WHO) is looking to revive an investigation into the origins of the COVID-19, a US media report said.
The world health body is assembling a team of 20 scientists to hunt for new evidence, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported. According to the WSJ report, the new probe comes following an initial WHO inquiry found that that the data provided by Chinese scientists was insufficient to answer key questions about the virus' origin.
The report stated that the new team of scientists, which includes specialists in laboratory safety and biosecurity and experts in geneticists, may be charged with examining whether the novel virus emerged from a lab, as well as broader inquiries into future virus risks and the links with human behaviour.
WHO believes that the new initiative will help accelerate a probe that risks running out of time, and blood samples from early virus victims become unusable.
Earlier in August, the US had released a report tracing the origins of the COVID-19 virus. While rejecting the report, Beijing had lodged solemn representations with Washington terming the report as "completely political, and having no scientificity and credibility."
In a strongly-worded statement, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu had said the US should "stop poisoning" the international cooperation on virus tracing and return to the correct path of scientific origins tracing and cooperation in the fight against the pandemic.
The declassified summary of a report stated that the US Intelligence Community (IC) assesses that the origins of the novel coronavirus disease may never be definitively identified without additional information.
According to the report, the US intelligence community is still divided about which of the two theories -- that the virus came from a lab leak or that it jumped from animal to human, naturally. There is consensus among the intelligence agencies that the two prevailing theories are plausible, the report said.
A WHO-led team of scientists that travelled to China in early 2021 to investigate the origins of the virus struggled to get a clear picture of what research China was conducting beforehand, faced constraints during its visit, and had little power to conduct thorough and impartial research.
A WHO-led team spent four weeks in and around the central city of Wuhan with Chinese researchers and said in a joint report in March that the virus had probably been transmitted from bats to humans through another animal.
A WHO-led team spent four weeks in and around the central city of Wuhan with Chinese researchers and said in a joint report in March that the virus had probably been transmitted from bats to humans through another animal.
A joint WHO-China study on the origins of COVID-19 says that transmission of the virus from bats to humans through another animal is the most likely scenario and that a lab leak is “extremely unlikely,” according to a draft copy obtained by The Associated Press. The findings were large as expected and left many questions unanswered. The team proposed further research in every area except the lab leak hypothesis.
KATHMANDU, May 21: The entire South Asia is currently battling with raging second COVID-19 wave. India, the largest country in the region and the second most populous country in the world, is counting the daily infections six digits. Here in Nepal, the total infections have so far reached around 120,000 since the outbreak of second wave.
According to the Ministry of Health and Population, the country recorded 488,654 positive cases of coronavirus and 366,946 have been recovered till Thursday.
The number of people succumbing to the virus is 5,847.
Health experts believe that the second wave’s virus variant is highly contagious than the one in the first wave. The government has implemented a prohibitory order for more than three weeks to break the chain of the virus transmission.
So far, three types of COVID-19 variants are detected in the country and the latest (third) variant B.1.617.2 is said to be highly aggressive. Amidst this, the government had brought one million doses of the Covishield vaccine and 800 doses of Vero Cell from India and China respectively. The vaccines were provided by the neighbours on grants.
Though the government has further signed an agreement with India to procure two millions doses of Covishield manufactured by the Serum Institute of India, it could get only one million doses and the arrival of remaining quantity is unlikely for the time being when India itself is suffering the devastating effect of the pandemic.
The government has appealed to international support and cooperation for help in its fight against the virus. It has called on chiefs and representatives of diplomatic missions here to facilitate for getting the vaccines. On Thursday, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli urged the UK ambassador for help obtain the vaccine.
To date, only 2.13 million people have received the first shot of anti COVID-19 vaccines while 426,510 are totally vaccinated or got the booster dose.
The Serum Institute of India has said it is not able to supply vaccines to Nepal before the mid-January of next year. This is the Institute’s response to Bangladesh as well.
The government is preparing to bring vaccines from China and people have been asked to fill up the online form so that it could reach to the aspiring population easily after the arrival of the vaccines.
Infections and death rate are high in the country. Hospital beds are not easily available during emergency while hospitals are grappling with the short supply of oxygen gas and amidst this crisis, there lies a possibility for an alternative to curb the infection, claims Dr Samartha Singh.
He told RSS that nasal vaccine to control corona virus could be produced in the country if the government granted permit for the same.
Singh added, “Different vaccine manufacturers in the world have taken the study and research regarding nasal vaccine far ahead. Vaccine of some companies is in the process of trial. Nasal vaccine can be produced in the country within next six months if the government grants permit.”
Dr Singh opined that the countries like Nepal having low economic status could not purchase vaccine paying high price as fresh wave of corona virus is spreading and its new variants could still be seen for next few years. So it was necessary to manufacture nasal vaccine in low cost. The vaccine has the elements to destroy the virus at the occurring point as corona virus is transmitted from nose and mouth.
Drug Controller of India has given permission to Bharat Biotech to produce nasal vaccine. Similarly, Hong Kong University and Wantai Bio Pharmacy of Beijing have been working in the sector of nasal spray. These universities have been carrying out second-phase trial.
Likewise, Finland’s University of Helsinki and University of Finland have been doing pre-clinical trial. University of Virginia has also started pre-clinical trial. Israel and New Zealand have already granted permission to Sanotize, nasal spray, for domestic use.
Dr Samarth Singh said that nasal vaccine could be manufactured in the country and its patent right could be obtained.
Antigen of corona virus could be purchased and vaccine could be used through nasal spray, he shared. It has been found from research that this type of vaccine would work up to three to four weeks.
Also the Head of the Department of Neurology at Vayodha Hospital, Kathmandu, Dr Singh has already submitted his proposal at the National Health Research Council and the Ministry of Health and Population in this regard.
He said that they were hopeful the government would accept this proposal. “This is a big expectation and wish of Nepal like countries,” he added. According to him, the corona virus cannot enter the human body due to IGA Neutralized and this would be effective to children and elderly people as well.
Dr Singh shared that such vaccine production was practical to Nepal as it needs fixed temperature available in Nepal. He added that they could start vaccine production process if permission was granted to them for the purpose.
According to Indian media, the vaccine produced by Biotech Company of India is in a first phase trial and it is being used as trial for the people aged from 18 to 60 there.
It is being trialed in various hospitals in India. These hospitals are AIMS Patna, Apollo Hospital Chennai, St. Theresa Hospital Hyderabad.
The trial report would be received by November 30. According to experts, Nasal COVID Vaccines don’t require any kind of syringes. Dr Singh believes that such vaccines would be effective and affordable to the developing and under- developed countries.
Researchers Dr Munir of Lancaster University, Dr Samartha Singh and Dr Bill Peltry of Virginia University claim that such vaccines would be cheaper to other kinds of vaccines and effective to poorer countries. Dr Bill shared that though it was tough job of doing research of it, it was nearer to success.
Hong Kong University is also doing research in this area and it was being trialed on 7,000 patients. The Serum Institute of India is also carrying out trial of this kind of vaccine in India.
The Coronavirus enters the body especially through the nose, mouth and eyes. According to doctors, this virus remains in the mouth and throat for few days. The nasal vaccine kills the virus' colony in the nasal passage and in the mouth. So, the virus can't enter the lungs.
The Oxford University of UK is also involved in its research. The Government of China started the trial of this vaccine last November alone and has already mobilised 100 volunteers for this.
Most of the vaccines currently in use have employed the dead cells of the Coronavirus itself. This vaccine cannot be administered to people of every age group. Moreover, it has to be stored in a certain temperature.
But the nasal vaccine is free of these and similar demerits.
Even the World Health Organization (WHO) has granted permission for trial and eight various companies and universities around the world are conducting research on this. It is believed the results of these researches will be available soon.
In Dr Samartha Singh's opinion works can be immediately started in Nepal for development of the nasal vaccine by bringing this technology under trial in Europe provided that the country's regulatory agency gave the permission.
TAIPEI TAIWAN, May 3: Russia is turning to multiple Chinese firms to manufacture the Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine in an effort to speed up production as demand soars for its shot.
Russia has announced three deals totaling 260 million doses with Chinese vaccine companies in recent weeks. It's a decision that could mean quicker access to a shot for countries in Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa that have ordered Russia's vaccine, as the U.S. and the European Union focus mainly on domestic vaccination needs.
Earlier criticism about Russia's vaccine have been largely quieted by data published in the British medical journal The Lancet that said large-scale testing showed it to be safe, with an efficacy rate of 91%.
Yet, experts have questioned whether Russia can fulfill its pledge to countries across the world. While pledging hundreds of millions of doses, it has only delivered a fraction.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said demand for Sputnik V significantly exceeds Russia’s domestic production capacity.
To boost production, the Russian Direct Investment Fund, which bankrolled Sputnik V, has signed agreements with multiple drug makers in other countries, such as India, South Korea, Brazil, Serbia, Turkey, Italy and others. There are few indications, however, that manufacturers abroad, except for those in Belarus and Kazakhstan, have made any large amounts of the vaccine so far.
Airfinity, a London-based science analytics company, estimates Russia agreed to supply some 630 million doses of Sputnik V to over 100 countries, with only 11.5 million doses exported so far.
RDIF declined to disclose how many doses are going to other countries. Through April 27, less than 27 million two-dose sets of Sputnik V have been reportedly produced in Russia.
The Russian Direct Investment Fund, which has been in charge of international cooperation for Sputnik V, said in April it would produce 100 million doses in collaboration with Hualan Biological Bacterin Inc., in addition to an earlier deal announced in March for 60 million doses with Shenzhen Yuanxin Gene tech Co.
The two deals are in addition to a deal announced last November with Tibet Rhodiola Pharmaceutical Holding Co, which had paid $9 million to manufacture and sell the Sputnik V vaccine in China. RDIF said in April the terms of the deal were for 100 million doses with a subsidiary company belonging to Tibet Rhodiola.
Russia is “very ambitious and unlikely to meet their full targets,” said Rasmus Bech Hansen, founder and CEO of Airfinity. Working with China to produce Sputnik V could be a win-win situation for both Russia and China, he added.
In recent years, Chinese vaccine companies have turned from largely making products for use domestically to supplying the global market, with individual firms gaining WHO preapproval for specific vaccines — seen as a seal of quality. With the pandemic, Chinese vaccine companies have exported hundreds of millions of doses abroad.
Chinese vaccine makers have been quick to expand capacity and say they can meet China’s domestic need by the end of the year.
“This is an acknowledgment of the Chinese vaccine manufacturers who can produce at volume,” said Helen Chen, head of pharmaceuticals LEK Consulting, strategy consultancy firm in Shanghai, in an email.
However, none of the three Chinese companies have yet to start manufacturing Sputnik V.
Tibet Rhodiola started constructing a factory in Shanghai at the end of last year and expects production to start in September, the company said at an annual meeting for investors last month. Tibet Rhodiola’s chairman Chen Dalin also said that after the successful technology transfer, they will start with an order of 80 million doses to sell back to Russia. An employee at the company declined to transfer a phone call request to the company's media department for comment.
The timeline for the newest deals are also unclear. Hualan Bio was among the 10 largest vaccines manufacturers in China in 2019. Phone calls to Hualan Bio went unanswered.
A spokeswoman for Shenzhen Yuanxing declined to say when the company will start production but said their order would not be for sale within China. RDIF had said the production will start this month.
In spite of the delays, Russia’s vaccine diplomacy has made gains.
From the outset, Russia, the first country to approve a coronavirus vaccine, aimed to distribute it globally. Within weeks of giving Sputnik V regulatory approval, RDIF started actively marketing it abroad, announcing multiple deals to supply the shot to other countries. It is so far winning the “public relations” battle, analysts said in a new report examining Russia and China's vaccine diplomacy from the Economist Intelligence Unit.
“Russia has been able to build stronger diplomatic ties and in areas where it hasn’t been able to,” before, said Imogen Page-Jarrett, an analyst at EIU. “They have this window of opportunity while the US, E.U. and India are focusing on domestic and the rest of the world is crying out for a vaccine supply."
A joint World Health Organization-China study on the origins of COVID-19 says that transmission of the virus from bats to humans through another animal is the most likely scenario and that a lab leak is “extremely unlikely,” according to a draft copy obtained by The Associated Press.
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