Economy 4 January 2023, 8:50am

Hungarian virologist speaks on the Chinese COVID situation, and its potential dangers for Europe

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Thanks to the addition of a third booster vaccine, the coronavirus, which is spreading explosively in China, is less dangerous for Europeans, Gábor Kemenesi, assistant professor at the Faculty of Natural Sciences of the University of Pécs told Infostart.

According to virologist Gábor Kemenesi, it was to be expected that China would see a very serious spread of the coronavirus after the previously built "barrier" was suddenly dismantled.

According to the virologist, vaccination in China is not structured properly, i.e. no preparation for the omicron variant has been done at all.

He recalled that the so-called booster vaccines were of great importance and that those who were really well protected, for example in Hungary, were those who took the third vaccine, Infostart reports.

The expert believes that the spread probably peaked in December last year, although it is possible that the virus has since then declined because fewer people are being tested. However, it is becoming increasingly apparent, although there is indeed little data coming from China, that there are no extra new variants behind the surge there. "It is simply a case of the virus suddenly bursting upon them," he reiterated.

Europe has had a much more gradual and better vaccination coverage of the virus, and the population immunity (flock immunity) provides a more benign environment.

To put it simply, we are better protected, especially since the sequence data show that the omicron sub-variant found elsewhere is the same as the one found in China, Kemenesi underlined.

So nothing extra should be expected from the pandemic there, because the European and Western populations are fairly well vaccinated, although there may be differences from country to country. According to the assistant professor at the Faculty of Natural Sciences of the University of Pécs, what we need to pay attention to now are professional, epidemiological issues. "What do we do with Chinese citizens entering the country, etc."

Gábor Kemenesi said that the new variant of omicron that has emerged in the United States is a so-called recombinant variant, which is the result of the mixing of genome segments of two sub-variant strains. According to the virologist, this was to be expected and there have certainly been similar versions of the virus before, but this one is interesting in that it is gaining ground. "But what we are used to with this virus is that every year or two a new variant appears that for some reason is able to spread more than the previous ones," said the assistant professor, adding that there is no evidence yet that it is more serious, let alone able to evade the vaccine.

The lesson in the emergence of new variants is always that science needs time to assess the full risk, as many very complex experiments are needed to answer what it can do, Gábor Kemenesi noted, reiterating that the overseas recombinant variant is not a cause for panic for now, but more data are needed to get a better picture of it, Infostart reports.