Fighting the pandemic

According to a State Council Information Office white paper on the COVID-19 response, science and technology have played vital roles in China's battle against the epidemic by providing effective diagnostic tools, preventive measures, treatments and candidate vaccines.

One of the breakthroughs in diagnostic methods was the use of hyper-polarized gas lung magnetic resonance imaging to accurately and directly visualize the gas-exchange function of COVID-19 patients' damaged lungs. The findings were published in November by the journal Science Advances.

The method works by having the patient inhale a small quantity of a nonradioactive, inert isotope of Xenon gas before undergoing an MRI scan.

The gas can enhance the MRI signals by more than 86,000 times, revealing subtle areas of poor ventilation in the lungs, according to the Innovation Academy for Precision Measurement Science and Technology at CAS.

The technology took Chinese scientists more than a decade to develop. The machine used to create the gas has been approved by the National Medical Products Administration, making it the first piece of medical equipment of its kind to be green lighted for clinical use anywhere in the world, the academy said.

Gao Xin, lead researcher behind the technology, said the new technique "lights up the lungs", allowing more accurate diagnosis and evaluation. It was used to help nearly 1,000 COVID-19 patients at the Jinyintan and Tongji hospitals in Wuhan, Hubei province, last year.

The achievement will improve the global prestige and competitiveness of China's high-end medical-imaging equipment sector and contribute to people's health and well-being, Gao said.

As for COVID-19 vaccines, the World Health Organization said China is undertaking 15 human trials for candidate vaccines, five of which are in phase 3 clinical trials.

At a news briefing last month, Zeng Yixin, vice-minister at the National Health Commission, said the country will focus on nationwide vaccinations of people and workers deemed at high risk of contracting COVID-19 during winter and spring, as cold weather can complicate prevention and control efforts.

As more vaccines are approved and mass-produced, seniors, people with underlying health conditions and those at higher risk of falling severely ill after becoming infected will be inoculated, he said.

"We hope to build herd immunity protection through proactive vaccination, and effectively manage COVID-19 as soon as possible," he added.

Yang Xiaoming, president of China National Biotec, a COVID-19 vaccine developer, described the nation's vaccine development as a marathon and said there were "still 100 meters before we cross the finish line".

"Even though we are developing vaccines at record speed, we have not skipped any research steps, and our procedural standards are stricter than before; only that can ensure the vaccine's efficacy and safety," Yang said at a conference last month.

"The emergence of vaccines will play a crucial role in our full victory over COVID-19."

At the same conference, Zhang Boli, head of Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, said TCM has played a positive role in the fight against COVID-19, alongside Western medicine.

"In the future, we will make full use of TCM's specialties and advantages, and contribute more to turning China into a healthier nation," he said.