China sees new COVID-19 outbreaks as Shanghai starts massive booster campaign using new inhalation doses

BEIJING, China - The city of Shanghai announced the first large-scale COVID-19 inhalation booster campaign. All residents above the age of 17 who haven't received a booster shot yet have been told to register through an app. The new booster method comes as Shanghai is once again dealing with recent COVID outbreaks.

Within the first hour, most comment sections related to the news on social media were blocked. And they had good reason to do so. Some of the few remaining comments on China's Twitter-like social media platform, Weibo, mainly showed concerned citizens. One person wrote: "I support the vaccination campaign, but will the outcome be good this time?" Another comment reads, "does it even matter if I take it or not?".

Once the comment sections were re-opened the messages suddenly became more positive. Using the hashtag "Shanghai launches new crown vaccination for inhalation," it had reached some 4.3 million views.

China has been working on an inhalation booster for over a year. The booster created by Shanghai Shangyao Kangxinuo Biopharmaceutical, called adenovirus vector type 5, is inhaled via a straw. A press release from the company stated that the booster uses so-called engineered viruses (adenoviral vectors) that are harmless to the body. The engineered viruses carry a genetic code that induces a higher immune response over time.

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The company press release said studies showed that six months after the inhaler booster, in combination with the regular COVID vaccines, high levels of neutralizing antibodies had been maintained within the body. No exact efficacy rates of the inhaler booster are provided.

In September, the National Medical Products Administration of China approved the first inhaled COVID vaccine made by CanSino Biologics. It is unknown how many people have received the inhaler booster so far.

"The previous COVID-19 vaccines made in China have been ineffective when compared to the Western vaccines. In fact, China has moved more in the direction of using the MRNA vaccines. Their zero COVID strategy has been a total failure, because of the ease of spread of the omicron variant," Dr. Marc Siegel, Fox News medical contributor, told Fox News Digital.

Siegel added, "Now they have come up with the first nasal vaccine, which attacks SARS COV2 at the nasal or mucosal level. If effective, it could markedly diminish spread. But more likely, it will only be partially effective. All eyes are on Dr. Akiko Iwasaki at Yale, who is one of our top virologists and is currently studying a nasal barrier vaccine which induces antibodies on contact."

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The new inhaler booster comes at the right time for Shanghai. Official statistics show that more than 23 million of the 24.9 million residents of Shanghai are currently fully vaccinated. About half of the 23 million people have received a booster shot. Nonetheless, Shanghai continues to struggle to keep the city COVID-19 free. On Tuesday, the city counted 36 confirmed cases, enough to label 18 parts of the city as "medium-risk areas."

An area is labeled medium risk if a person infected with COVID, symptomatic or asymptomatic, lives, or passes through the area. All people living in that area will be required to stay within their own residential area, and, in most cases, are subjected to daily COVID tests. If no new infections are found in the relevant area for seven consecutive days, the area will be declared low-risk.

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Earlier this month The Associated Press reported that outbreaks have been reported across the country, with the largest number occurring in Inner Mongolia and in the Xinjiang region where both, it said, had recorded several hundred cases daily. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

That Was Quick: Progressives Pull Ukraine Peace Letter After Democratic Backlash

That was quick.

On Tuesday, the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) withdrew its letter demanding that the Biden administration open diplomatic discussions between Ukraine and Russia.

The CPC issued the letter Monday, but its chair Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) blamed staffers for sending the letter without properly vetting or considering its timing.

“The Congressional Progressive Caucus hereby withdraws its recent letter to the White House regarding Ukraine,” Jayapal said in a statement.

Jayapal, who bills herself as a friend of working-class Americans, promptly threw the schlepps working for her on Capitol Hill under the bus.

“The letter was drafted several months ago, but unfortunately was released by staff without vetting,” she added. “As Chair of the Caucus, I accept responsibility for this.”

The original letter called upon President Joe Biden to change strategy on the Russian-Ukraine war and to begin a “proactive diplomatic push, redoubling efforts to seek a realistic framework for a ceasefire.”

In reaction, establishment Democrats, directly and indirectly, criticized the CPC for its actions.

Congressman Gerry Connolly (D-VA), for example, rebuked anybody who even suggests that Ukraine or the U.S. could engage in good-faith negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“We cannot engage in magical thinking regarding the nature of the Russian threat,” Connolly said. “Russia has lied about its intentions in Ukraine and overturned international agreements fundamental to safeguarding peace on the European continent.”

The congressman made his statements from Croatia, where he joined Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, who announced plans for even more funding for Ukraine.

“Congress has secured over $60 billion in security, economic, humanitarian and budget assistance for Ukraine, including twelve and a third billion just weeks ago,” Pelosi said. “And more will be on the way when we pass our omnibus funding bill this fall.”

Connolly also said, “Ukraine has our support now and until victory.”

Jayapal also noted that the progressive letter made it seem as if the CPC was expressing bipartisanship with the GOP when it came to Ukraine.

“Because of the timing, our message is being conflated by some as being equivalent to the recent statement by Republican Leader McCarthy threatening an end to aid to Ukraine if Republicans take over,” Jayapal said, noting that the letter “created the unfortunate appearance that Democrats … are somehow aligned with Republicans who seek to pull the plug on American support for President Zelensky and the Ukrainian forces.”

In other words, progressives believe that it’s better to support the war than to “align” with Republicans.

Whatever happened to the anti-war Left of yesteryear? Did they ever actually exist? Considering their absence during the Obama years and their utter silence-turned-cowardice as displayed by the CPC,  it would appear not.

The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

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