Medical workers help residents get tested for the coronavirus at a temporary testing center in Hong Kong, March 14, 2022. (KIN CHEUNG / AP)

HONG KONG – A herbal formula that can help prevent COVID-19 infection by boosting a person’s innate immunological ability has been created. 

The Institute of Chinese Medicine of The Chinese University of Hong Kong and Singapore-based Chinese medicine manufacturer and retailer Eu Yan Sang have teamed up in manufacturing 10,000 Chinese medicine sachets based on the herbal formula. 

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The sachets are then distributed via two outlets of Eu Yan Sang in Hong Kong and an outlet of the Chinese medicine institute to 1,000 care workers and the elderly at nursing homes, as well as medical workers in the city, with no major adverse effects reported. 

The Chinese medicine sachets are used to prevent COVID-19 infection by boosting a person’s innate immunological system, and not for treatment 

The herbal formula consists of two parts – one part is supportive of “qi” and the other part is a simple herbal combination advocated for mild symptoms. “Qi” is an important ancient concept of balance and harmony which is taken as prevention of deficiency in immunological defense. The Chinese medicine sachets are used to prevent COVID-19 infection by boosting a person’s innate immunological system, and not for treatment. 

The formula had proved to be safe and effective when used during the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome outbreak in Hong Kong in 2003. It has now been used again in combating COVID-19 by offering extra personal protection for frontline medical workers who have come under extreme distress during the fifth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“Eu Yan Sang has agreed to manufacture more herbal sachets as it has already sourced herbal ingredients that can be used to produce Chinese medicine sachets. The Chinese pharmaceutical retailer has manufacturing plants and Chinese medicine expertise to do that,” said Leung Ping-chung, director of the Centre for Clinical Trials on Chinese Medicine at CUHK’s Institute of Chinese Medicine. 

“Once funding is obtained, Eu Yan Sang can utilize the sourced ingredients to produce 30,000 to 40,000 Chinese medicine sachets,” Leung told China Daily. 

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Targeted recipients will be care workers and the elderly at nursing homes, as well as medical workers. 

The Chinese medicine institute is doing research on how to conduct clinical trials of the herbal formula by adding some supplements and probiotics to manufacture some kind of oral polio vaccine that can boost human immunological defense against COVID-19. 

Leung said the pandemic has made people more aware of the efficacy of Chinese medicine in preventing infectious diseases.