This Thursday, December 10, Greg Gilligan, Chairman of AmCham China and Dr. Zhang Wenhong, Professor and Head of the Center for Infectious Disease at Huashan Hospital of Fudan University, discussed the current global fight against COVID-19 during a fireside conversation with member companies.
Dr. Zhang plays a critical role in China’s management of COVID-19 and is followed by tens of millions on Chinese social media platforms. During the discussion with Gilligan, Dr. Zhang touched on the reasons for China’s success in combating COVID-19, prospects for vaccines both in China and globally, insights on vaccine management, and predictions for 2021.
Dr. Zhang emphasized that a large factor for China’s success in reducing the fatality rate of COVID-19 is adequate healthcare resources. According to Dr. Zhang, China currently ranks first in the world for medical resources for COVID-19 treatments due to effective control of disease transmission.
The vaccine, Dr. Zhang continued, will be the most important medical resource to erradict COVID-19. However, there are still a lot of questions to answer before the vaccine can be pushed out. According to Dr. Zhang, China is conducting phase III research in the countries with high disease rates, and are applying EUA in order to control the COVID-19 pandemic both in China and the world.
Finally, Dr. Zhang noted that China’s current vaccine has been applying EUA already and that the vaccine can be implemented for emergency use sooner rather than later.