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On January 4, according to the Research Report of medrxiv, a medical research website, a new variant of covid-19 virus was found in Marseille, France. The virus strain number is “b.1.640.2”, also known as “Ihu”. At present, the new variant has infected 12 people in France.
The “Ihu” strain contained 46 mutation sites and 37 deletions, slightly lower than the 50 mutations of Omicron. The new strain carries e484k mutation, which is often not related to the vaccine resistance of the virus; In addition, Ihu carries n501y mutation, making it more transmissible. However, due to the small number of samples of “Ihu”, its infectivity and risk are still difficult to assess, and it is impossible to judge whether it will affect the protective efficacy of the vaccine. However, the World Health Organization has listed the strain as a covid-19 variant to be observed.
Comments:
Omicron is highly transmissible, but its symptoms are mild compared with other strains
At present, the mutated covid-19 virus Omicron is spreading all over the world and has become the main epidemic strain in the United States, Britain and other regions. The World Health Organization pointed out that Omicron has replaced Delta as the main epidemic strain in the United States, Britain and other regions. Bloomberg pointed out on January 4 that the Omicron strain led to a surge in confirmed cases of covid-19 in the United States, with more than 1 million new cases on January 3. According to the data of CDC on January 4, the infection cases of Omicron virus in the United States account for 95.4% of the new covid-19 virus infection cases. The UK also reported more than 218000 newly confirmed cases of covid-19 in the past 24 hours, exceeding 200000 for the first time.
Omicron has strong transmission, but its symptoms are mild compared with other strains. Although the transmission is strong, the toxicity of Omicron is much lower than that of the previous strain, and the death cases and hospitalization rates are low. Scientists have found that Omicron seems to be more likely to infect the upper respiratory tract than the lungs. Because the infection and reproduction rate of Omicron in bronchus is faster than delta variant strain and covid-19 original strain, it is more infectious; However, the infection of Omicron in human lung was significantly lower than that of covid-19 original strain, so the infection symptoms were mild compared with other strains.
The effect of two doses of vaccine is gradually weakened, and the third dose is imminent
Researchers from the University of Hong Kong studied the sera of 25 people who had been vaccinated with two doses of Kexing vaccine and found that there was no antibody that could neutralize “Omicron”. In addition, only 20% – 24% of those vaccinated with two doses of Pfizer / biontech vaccine could detect the neutralizing antibody against “Omicron”. In view of this, the researchers believe that the Omicron virus has significantly escaped from the two doses of vaccination and can no longer stop the spread of the virus. Therefore, the third vaccination is imperative. Considering that some patients have doubts about the effectiveness of covid-19 vaccine, we believe that the key to epidemic prevention is to popularize the vaccination of the third dose and improve the vaccination rate of the third dose. Multinational countries promote the fourth dose of covid-19 vaccination
According to incomplete statistics, many countries around the world have begun to vaccinate the fourth dose of covid-19 vaccine. On January 4, Israeli Prime Minister Bennett said that according to the preliminary data obtained, it is safe to vaccinate the fourth dose of covid-19 vaccine, which can increase the antibody level of vaccinators to five times that before vaccination. Previously, Israel has opened the fourth vaccination to specific groups such as people over 60 years old and medical staff in China.
The United States, Thailand and other countries plan to launch the fourth dose of covid-19 vaccine. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) pointed out that Americans with moderate or severe immune deficiency may need to inject the fourth dose of covid-19 vaccine at least six months after receiving the third dose of vaccine. Thailand plans to start the fourth dose of vaccination for medical and health personnel, anti epidemic front-line staff and patients with chronic diseases with low immunity who abstain from taking immunosuppressive drugs
Investment advice
With the emergence of the new strain of “Ihu”, the global epidemic prevention war will be upgraded. Superimposed on the omecron mat roll worldwide, although the toxicity is slight, the extremely strong transmissibility can not be underestimated. According to who statistics, as of January 5, 293 million confirmed cases and 5.45 million deaths had been reported worldwide.
In the face of severe and complex epidemic forms, Israel, the United States and Thailand have planned to implement the fourth dose of covid-19 vaccine. The latest research shows that the effect of two doses of vaccine is weakening, and the third dose is imminent. We believe that the key to epidemic prevention is to popularize the third vaccination and improve the vaccination rate of the third vaccination. Considering that the country has significantly strengthened the vaccination of the third injection recently and superimposed the vaccination expectation of the potential fourth injection, it is recommended that investors pay attention to covid-19 pneumonia epidemic prevention targets, such as Chongqing Zhifei Biological Products Co.Ltd(300122) , Cansino Biologics Inc(688185) , Shenzhen Kangtai Biological Products Co.Ltd(300601) .
Risk statement
R & D progress is less than expected, commercialization progress is less than expected, policy risks, etc
