The tale of two COVIDs: New Zealand and Hong Kong.
Compare cases and deaths. It's two very different stories
Both have kept COVID at bay with public health COVID zero-styled approaches.
Both finally saw Omicron break through.
Cases shot up in parallel.
Compare cases and deaths. It's two very different stories
Both have kept COVID at bay with public health COVID zero-styled approaches.
Both finally saw Omicron break through.
Cases shot up in parallel.
Now for the bad news: Hong Kong now leads the world in deaths per capita.
In New Zealand, there is barely a blip in deaths per capita.
In New Zealand, there is barely a blip in deaths per capita.
There are many differences here, like density. Hong Kong is a lot smaller in size than New Zealand but larger in population (7.5M vs 5M)
The crucial difference though is vaccination
It's not that Hong Kong doesn't have vaccines, it's just not the right ones w the right targeting
The crucial difference though is vaccination
It's not that Hong Kong doesn't have vaccines, it's just not the right ones w the right targeting
Hong Kong has higher vaccination rates than most of the world. At least 82% have 1 dose, 70% have 2 doses, 23% have 3 doses
This doesn't match New Zealand: 84%, 78%, 48% but it isn't far
The overall rate isn't the issue. It's which vaccines and who did or didn't get them.
This doesn't match New Zealand: 84%, 78%, 48% but it isn't far
The overall rate isn't the issue. It's which vaccines and who did or didn't get them.
Hong Kong has more who are elderly and fewer who are vaccinated than in New Zealand. It's the elderly who die from COVID.
As Omicron spread in HK, vaccine hesitancy has led to vaccination rates among those aged 70-79 and 80-plus to be just 63.1% and 34.2%
cnbc.com/2022/02/10/hon…
As Omicron spread in HK, vaccine hesitancy has led to vaccination rates among those aged 70-79 and 80-plus to be just 63.1% and 34.2%
cnbc.com/2022/02/10/hon…
Meanwhile in New Zealand, vaccination rates in the elderly are over 95%
health.govt.nz/covid-19-novel…
health.govt.nz/covid-19-novel…
The immune wall also depends on which vaccines used. Inactivated whole virus vaccines like coronavac in HK are just not as effective as mRNA (or viral vector) in NZ. Neither has more substantial infection-derived immunity to compensate.
We need better metrics to capture the immune wall, the buffers that keep death and overwhelming outbreaks at bay. It needs to include not just how many were vaccinated but who, with which vaccines, supplemented by what levels of infection-derived immunity
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