Medical workers preparing equipment outside a fever clinic in Beijing / AP
The report predicts that local health systems across all provinces in China would be unable to cope with the surge of Covid-19 cases posed by reopening, between December 2022 and January 2023.
The surge of disease burden posed by reopening in December 2022-January 2023 would likely overload many local health systems across the country
- Excerpt from the study
What are the reasons for China's Covid?
The study claims that one of the major reasons for the spread of Covid-19 is the absence of a nationwide vaccine campaign.
The efficiency of Chinese vaccines: Chinese companies Sinovac and Sinopharm have made the country two main Covid-19 vaccines, both of which have been approved by the World Health Organization.
WHO says the Sinovac vaccine is about 50% effective and Sinopharm is 78% effective.
Dr Abhisheel Das (MBBS), from Kolkata, explains to DailyO that the low efficiency of the vaccines has resulted in a lack of herd immunity among people.
Sinopharm vaccine representative image
Low elderly vaccination rate: Even though China recently sped up its vaccination process among the elderly, the numbers still remain low.
Bloomberg reports that only 69% of those aged 60 and above and 40% of 80-year-olds and above in China have had booster shots as of November 29.
Vaccination for the elderly in China representative image
Vaccine hesitancy:NPR reports that Chinese people have deep-seated vaccine hesitancy. Many are suspicious of the product quality given China's reputation for manufacturing and pharmaceuticals.
Despite the issues, the study says proper management and vaccination can prevent a disaster.