Novel Coronavirus Vaccination Guidelines Second Edition

The core adjustment of this version of the guideline is that it no longer requires universal vaccination for the entire population. It is preferentially recommended that elderly people aged 60 and above, people with serious underlying diseases, people with low immune function, and people at high risk of exposure (such as medical staff, port workers, and service personnel in densely populated places) receive vaccines containing XBB variant antigen components once a year. Healthy adults who have not been infected with COVID-19 in the past 6 months and have clear protection needs can voluntarily be vaccinated. People who have been infected are recommended to be vaccinated at least 6 months apart from infection. There is no mandatory requirement in the whole process.

Last week I accompanied my aunt, who has a history of diabetes for 20 years, to a community vaccination site for consultation. As soon as I arrived at the door, I saw seven or eight adults gathered around the nurse's desk. They were holding the health care articles on their mobile phones and asking questions. Some said they had high blood pressure and were afraid to take the injection, some said they wanted to come for a refill after a month of sex, and some asked whether there would be any side effects. The nurse was flipping through a small book full of notes to explain one by one, and her mouth was almost dry.

The current discussion about the new coronavirus vaccine on the Internet is indeed polarized. We have to say this objectively. On the one hand, there are solid clinical monitoring data: Statistics from the China CDC in the first half of this year show that the risk of severe illness and death for elderly people over 80 who have completed vaccination with the XBB variant strain is 83% lower than those who have not been vaccinated. The three elderly people with severe COVID-19 admitted to our department last month were all not vaccinated. One of them was admitted to the ICU because of white lung, which cost him hundreds of thousands of dollars. But on the other hand, there is no need to avoid the problem. It is true that many people have experienced low-grade fever, fatigue, and soreness at the vaccination site after vaccination. A few patients with extremely low immune function, such as patients during radiotherapy and chemotherapy for advanced cancer, have not been able to detect enough neutralizing antibodies after vaccination. These situations must be presented in real terms, and we cannot just talk about them in nice words.

What many people are most concerned about is "Can I fight?" In fact, except for a few hard taboos, most people don't need to worry about it. For example, if you have a fever now, whether it is COVID-19, influenza A, or a cold caused by the air conditioner, just wait until the fever subsides and the symptoms disappear. If you have had a severe allergic reaction to the COVID-19 vaccine before, such as shortness of breath or a large rash all over your body, then don’t touch it. For the rest, those whose high blood pressure can be controlled within the normal range by taking medicine, those whose diabetic glycosylated hemoglobin is stable at around 7, or even those who have had a stent in the heart for more than half a year and have no discomfort, can all be given an injection. If you are really unsure, take your medical records to the doctor at the vaccination site for two minutes. It is more reliable than watching three hours of short videos.

Many young friends also ask, "I've had my penis two or three times, do I still need to take it?" There is no unified standard answer in the industry, so there is no need to argue about right and wrong. There is a group of clinicians who believe that the level of neutralizing antibodies in the body after repeated infections is enough to maintain protection for more than 6 months. As long as there is no high risk of exposure, vaccination is not needed. There is also a group of infectious disease prevention and control experts who believe that the immune evasion ability of XBB sub-variant strains is getting stronger and stronger. If you often go on business trips, go to crowded places, or have babies or seriously ill elderly people at home to take care of, there is no harm in getting an injection for an extra layer of protection. It all depends on your own needs. No one will say you are wrong because you take or don't take it. Oh, by the way, I have a friend who is a cross-border e-commerce business and goes abroad to discuss business every month. He just took the new XBB vaccine last month and said that he was positive every time he went abroad before. This time he went to have dinner with clients every day for half a month and nothing happened when he came back. Of course, this may be because he is lucky, but at least it shows that for some highly exposed people, the protective effect is indeed visible to the naked eye.

After the injection, there is nothing special to pay attention to. The previous posts on the Internet about not eating seafood and taking a bath are all nonsense. As long as you are not allergic to seafood, you can eat whatever you want, and don't rub the needle hole where the vaccination was done vigorously when taking a bath. I went to drink iced Coke on the day after my last fight. Except for my arm being sore for two days, nothing happened. Of course, if you drink alcohol, it will definitely not work. Drinking alcohol anytime is bad for your health, right?

In fact, this version of the guideline is, to put it bluntly, more down-to-earth. It does not require everyone to act in unison as before, but it is to accurately protect those who need it most without placing a burden on ordinary people. You really don’t have to worry about whether to vaccinate or not. People who belong to high-risk groups should try to get vaccinated. Healthy young people can vaccinate if they want to. Wear a mask and wash hands frequently if you don’t want to vaccinate. If you have any questions, go to the community vaccination site near your home and ask a few questions. People deal with these issues every day, which is much more reliable than the messy information on the Internet.