Despite news that the Sinovac vaccine has just been approved for use among three to 17-year-olds in China, there is yet no timeline for the actual rollout to this specific age group, Jingkids has discovered.

The Global Times reported earlier yesterday that the Sinovac vaccine, given in two doses, has now been given the regulatory green light to be administered to children. Previously only those 18 and above have been eligible to receive the vaccine.

Despite this, calls to Oasis International Hospital and Beijing United Monday revealed that neither have been authorized to begin vaccinating children. Chinese hospitals reached were also unable to state a timeline for the rollout.

The issue of under 18 vaccinations is a big one for international families, especially as summer approaches and the possibility of traveling abroad is once again within reach.

Since the advent of Covid-19, it has been difficult for foreigners to re-enter China. More recently, proof of having received one of the two major Chinese vaccines – Sinopharm or Sinovac – has given those seeking a guaranteed return an advantage.

Many parents fear that taking their unvaccinated children outside the country could result in them being barred from returning.

Should foreign children receive the vaccine, it will be all that much easier to make international travel plans – though most still advise foreign residents of China to stay put for the time being, until inbound international travel is normalized.

It’s also not a given that foreign children will get access to the vaccine at the same time as local citizens. Beijing’s vaccine rollout for adults began in late 2020, but it was not until the end of March of this year that foreigners were offered a chance at vaccination.

The approval of the vaccine for children comes on the heels of Beijing reporting that 90% of its over 18 population has now received at least one dose of the vaccine. That same source indicated that according to official government statistics, 29,409 of Beijing’s 62,812 foreigners — or 47% — have now received the vaccine.

KEEP READING: Post Covid Anxiety in Children

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I have noticed a disturbing trend over the past few weeks and months. Some of my students who were very outgoing and precocious pre-pandemic have become excessively shy and showing signs of early social anxiety.

Fear of large crowds or approaching people without masks, excessive hand washing, even things as common as an allergy-induced sneeze are suddenly spooking some previously unflappable kids. For adults, a return to normal pre-pandemic activities has been something we have waited anxiously for, but for our smallest children, the pandemic behaviors were normal because they don’t remember anything else.

This is one of those unexpected pandemic effects that we aren’t completely sure how to deal with and will probably see the fall out for many years.

I want to preface the advice I am about to give by stating I am not a doctor or therapist; there is very little scientific information I can cite outside of traditional social anxiety studies because it’s a new problem that has not been researched sufficiently yet. Much of this is conjecture based on my years working with children and allegorical personal experiences over the past few months. I hope it is helpful, but please take it with the pound of salt it deserves. As always, if your child’s symptoms are severe or consistently worsening then you should consult a professional.

Delineate between shy and scared: Some children are just shy, naturally cautious, or introverted. That is a personality trait not a cause for concern. Even outgoing people have situations that they don’t enjoy or want to participate in. So make sure your child is actually experiencing anxiety before you label this as a problem to be addressed.

Identify the fear factor: If your child is experiencing fear help them identify why. Is the subway scary because it’s crowded or are they worried about getting sick? What are they afraid will happen if they don’t wash their hands 10 times a day? Sometimes just identifying the thing you fear is enough to help dispel it. At the very least it will help you as an adult address the issues and brainstorm ways to help them face their fears.

Don’t Push: The answer to a fear of swimming is not to throw your child into the ocean at high tide. You wade in slowly. So don’t start with a trip to Shanghai Disney; maybe spend the afternoon at Chaoyang Park first and have a picnic at the edge of the crowd. The following week maybe you move a little deeper into the throng. It’s okay if they don’t want to do something; keep presenting your child with fun opportunities and show them you are staying safe while doing them. Eventually, they will join in too.

Keep it small to start: Find little wins. If fear of dirty hands is the culprit, finger paint and then have them leave the paint on for 10 seconds before washing it off, then try 15 seconds and then 30. Do this over several days and with longer time periods. As they see that nothing bad happens they will become more confident. The same is true for social gatherings. Start with 2 friends at the park, then 3 at an at-home play date, 5 the following week at a music class etc.

Prepare them for interactions: If a scary interaction is unavoidable, help prepare them for the experience by talking about it ahead of time and making a plan for how they will handle it. “Tomorrow we need to take the subway to get to school. I will hold your hand the entire time so if you get scared you can squeeze it. We will be on for 4 stops and we will count them together. You will get stickers at each stop!” Fear is often about an inability to control something. Giving them something small they can control, like squeezing your hand, singing a song or counting stops will help distract them from the unknowns.

Set examples through actions: Let them see you hug your mask-free friends and ride public transportation. Yes, you wash your hands before you eat and after using the bathroom but it’s ok to be a little messy while we create art or play on the playground. We will clean up when we are done. All people sneeze and cough sometimes, it’s normal. We just need to cover our mouths when we do it.

We have been sending our children signals for many months that the world is unsafe. As a society, we modeled some pretty extreme behavior out of necessity. Now we need to send them a different message. The world is a beautiful place full of things to explore and experiences to take part in. We still need to take some basic precautions but it’s safe to venture back out and rejoin our larger community.

KEEP READING: Am I Imagining or Has There Been Less Sick Kids Since Covid?

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Yesterday we featured a short Biography on Tan Yunxian, China’s first documented female physician. Today we wanted to profile Dr. Shelley Ochs, a modern physician specializing in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) right here in Beijing.

Dr. Ochs is a long term American Expat with an impressive educational background. An Honors BA in Chinese Language and Literature from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, led to a Master’s degree in Traditional Chinese Medicine from The American College of Chinese Medicine and a Doctorate from The Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences. She has gone on to teach, train, interpret, and of course practice at more prestigious institutions than I have fingers and toes, both in America and China. She is currently practicing at Beijing United Family and Teaching at the Beijing Center for China Studies. But her pedigree might just be the least impressive thing about her. In the middle of her incredibly robust schedule, she found time to talk with me about her fascinating life, and I found her perspective refreshing and interesting. I hope you do too.

Jingkids: It’s unusual for a westerner to practice TCM as their specialty, isn’t it? How did you find your way to this field?

Dr. Ochos: I was actually living in Taiwan when I was 19 and the pollution was really affecting my lungs. I tried TCM and it broke the cycle of infections. After that experience, I wanted to study it but I was told it was too late and it would be impossible for me because most people begin studying when they are children. I was told by one friend that it was like saying I wanted to learn to be a pilot or a ballerina.

But I quickly learned there were 48 schools with programs in TCM in the united states! Since I was relatively fluent in Chinese from my four years in Taiwan, I chose to finish a BA in Chinese literature and then move to San Francisco to study Chinese medicine in Chinese.

JK: What did your parents think about this path?

Dr. O: They were just happy I had chosen something that offered real-world job opportunities instead of only being able to become an academic.

JK: You’re in a really unique position to educate expats about TCM. What are some misconceptions westerners have about it?

Dr. O: There are two big ones I can think of. The first is that people mistakenly think the effects of TCM are temporary so if you stop the treatments your symptoms will return. But the opposite is true. The goal of TCM is to shift the balance of the body so that it can heal itself. We are trying to remove blockages and nudge the system so your natural ability to heal is triggered and reinforced.

The other is the idea of using endangered animals as medicine. While that has been a part of the folk culture in the past, it’s actually a forbidden practice now that is strictly regulated. In licensed hospitals and clinics in China professional practitioners are not prescribing herbal medicine with endangered species. The problem is the trade and the profits from the trade, which is primarily through the black market in East and Southeast Asia.

JK: You mentioned the folk culture which is what most people associate with TCM. But Chinese medicine has a very long history. How has it evolved?

Dr. O: In the 1950s and 60s there was a lot of government support for TCM because it was what was readily available to most communities. But as more practitioners and more facilities for biomedicine became available, the population began to embrace western medicine and new forms of “integrated Chinese-Western medicine” emerged. In recent years Chinese medicine has gained a bit in popularity because it’s effective for treating conditions that many people in China are now suffering from, such as weight gain, hypertension, infertility, depression, anxiety and insomnia.

Both in China and in other parts of the world, Chinese medicine is also used as a complementary therapy. For example, acupuncture and TCM herbal remedies can help in reducing the side-effects of chemo therapy.

We are also seeing a consumer-driven desire for TCM in the West. The Cleveland Clinic recently made a big splash by bringing on a full time TCM herbalist. Some hospitals in Australia, the UK, Canada and the US have integrated acupuncture treatments or refer to TCM professionals.

JK: Has modern science been able to explain why TCM is effective?

Dr. O: Clinical trials can evaluate the effectiveness of TCM treatments without knowing the underlying mechanisms of action in biomedical terms. You can compare treatment to placebo, or usual care (with biomedicine) to usual care plus, with the plus being acupuncture or herbal medicine. But if we insist on explaining the effects in terms of biochemistry and modern physiology, then we find that the answers are often elusive. We simply don’t use—or need—biomedical explanations for most of what we do. Traditional concepts of the mind-body complex and the interventions based on this are not dependent on modern medicine. However, we do also look at laboratory markers and modern diagnostics when evaluating patient outcomes.

There has been some important progress in the field of acupuncture. MRI’s have revolutionized what we know about how the brain and central nervous system respond to acupuncture needling. Connections between traditional points on the body and repeatable, consistent responses in the brain have convinced many former skeptics that it’s a valid practice.

However, exactly how signals are conducted in the body is still an unanswered question. One of the most widely-accepted hypotheses is that connective tissue is the main medium.

JK: Who normally comes to see you and what sort of conditions do you usually treat?

Dr. O: I tend to treat about 70% expats and 30% local residents, and it’s interesting because so many of the issues people face are stress-induced. It’s just different stressors. Expats often need help with exhaustion, anxiety and insomnia triggered by the stress of moving to a new country. Locals often are referred for more serious issues like hypertension, or are seeking help with infertility. They tend to be dealing with the stress of caring for elderly parents, small children, work, school, and money issues all at the same time.

JK: The big health story in 2020/21 is obviously Covid. Does TCM have a place in the treatment of the pandemic?

Dr. O: In conjunction with modern medicine, yes. In fact the combination in Hubei and elsewhere has been shown to lead to vastly improved outcomes. One of the things China did to help curb the disease was to treat close contacts and suspected cases, not just confirmed cases. Local clinics in Wuhan and large, converted “shelter-hospitals” offered TCM to over 50,000 people. For example, at one hospital, TCM was used to treat about 400 patients with mild or moderate disease from Covid-19 and none of those patients progressed to more serious disease. At other clinics where TCM was not used the average progression rate was 6.5%.

JK: In addition to being a physician, teacher, translator, and writer, you are also an expat mom. What are some of the rewards and challenges of raising a third culture kid and what do you hope she gets from the experience?

Dr. O: It’s interesting because my daughter is about to graduate from a public elementary school where she is the only foreigner in her class. She has lived in China her entire life and speaks fluent Mandarin but holds an American passport. When asked where she is from she says “My mom is American, my dad is Chinese and I was born in Beijing.” It can be complicated to find a sense of belonging as a third-culture kid, but I want her to learn the social skills and resiliency that will allow her to be comfortable anywhere in the world. She will be going to an international high school where she can continue to be educated bilingually. I hope her upbringing has given her a strong sense of empathy and tolerance for others, while also learning to hold on to the core values that I think make life meaningful.

KEEP READING: Claudia Masüger: There’s no ‘Wine’ing in Business

Photo: Shelley Ochs

On Mar 28, the Press Conference of the Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism of the State Council officially announces that as of midnight on Mar 27, China has reported a total of more than 100 million people have been vaccinated and the results have shown to be safe and effective. Meanwhile, since Mar 24, China’s daily vaccination has exceeded three million doses. The next step for China will be to continue to promote free vaccination through a variety of convenient services.

Is Vaccination Necessary?

According to Wang Huaqing, chief expert of the China Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s immunization program, most people are susceptible to Covid-19. Vaccination is the most effective prevention and control method. The more people vaccinated, the stronger the immune barrier will be established. It’s suggested that everyone who meets the requirements should be vaccinated, which will not only protect their own health but also protect their family and the people around them.

What Happens When You Get Vaccinated?

Wang stated that after vaccination, the body will produce antibodies or cellular immunity and some will produce corresponding immunity memories in the body. Then people will have a certain degree of immunity. In short, the role of vaccination is to prevent infection and severe illnesses and ensure the health of the majority of people.

For People Aged 3 to 17 Years Old, When Can Vaccination Start?

Zhang Yuntao, Vice President of Sinopharm China National Biotec Group (CNBG), said that in 2020, the phase I & II clinical research conducted by CNBG in Henan Province has covered clinical studies in the age group of three to 17 years old. While there’s still no set date for when China will begin vaccinating those under the age of 17, the health ministry has reported that phase I/II trials have already achieved the desired results.

What Measures Will Be Taken in the Future to Meet the Public’s Vaccination Needs?

Vaccinations were previously arranged for college students and teachers, service staff, taxi drivers, etc. Meanwhile, vaccination for people over 60 years old and patients with chronic diseases is also being carried out. In the future, the National Health Commission will continue to promote vaccination in key areas and high risk crowds.

KEEP READING: Everything You Need to Know About the COVID-19 Vaccination in China

Images: Baidu Image, china.com.cn, ThePaper.cn

Images: Chinanews.com, The Beijingers

With Didi and express courier (aka kuaidi) services to Shunyi suspended for several weeks due to an outbreak of COVID-19 cases in the district, residents are getting used to life without them – and in many cases realizing how dependent they have become on them.

PR representatives from Didi and several courier companies contacted by beijingkids on Monday afternoon stated that they are following the orders of city government officials in charge of epidemic prevention and control and, as yet, have been given no timeline for the restoration of normal services. Asked to speculate, one courier company said that they don’t expect full service to resume until after the Chinese New Year holiday in mid-February. Residents in the district have said that while Didi is an absolute no-go, some packages have managed to get through despite the restrictions.

The Shunyi cluster sprang up in late December, and at its peak resulted in seven neighborhoods – all north and northeast of Beijing Capital International Airport – being declared “medium risk” areas. Since that time, the risk level of all but two of those areas has been returned to the baseline low-risk level.

Over the past month or so, Shunyi residents have gone through multiple rounds of mass testing to weed out any cases that were flying under the radar, with some compounds being put under closed management for short periods of time before test results were returned. Residents have also been advised to curtail unnecessary trips outside the district.

While local deliveries from supermarkets and restaurants within the district are still available, most items from outside the district are not. In addition, many housing estates have requested that all packages be left at the main gate, which has produced grumbles from some living in the often massive complexes, especially since it is winter to boot.

Some have questioned why such drastic measures remain in place in the district overall, especially compared to Daxing district, where a new outbreak has caused a cessation of services only to the affected neighborhoods and not to the district overall.

Nevertheless, residents of Shunyi are adjusting to life in the district, finding themselves getting more familiar with bus and subway transport (which remains unaffected), and walking and biking more than usual. Others have formed carpools with private drivers and had their courier packages delivered to their office downtown to take back home.

Tracy Blacklock, a teacher who lives and works in Shunyi, has gotten accustomed to biking 6km each way to work in the winter, grappling with sub-zero temperatures. “Once it was -13℃ and not very fun … but it means I get fit,” she said.

Biking at night has also been nerve-wracking for Blacklock, but tough times call for innovative solutions: “My [bike]  lights broke, so at one point I wrapped Christmas tree lights around me to stay safe.”

KEEP READING: Stories From Shunyi’s Pop Up Nucleic Acid Testing Centers

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