China raced to vaccinate its most vulnerable people on Thursday in anticipation of waves of COVID-19 infections, with some analysts expecting the death toll to soar after it eased strict controls that had kept the pandemic at bay for three years.
The push comes as the World Health Organization also raised concerns that China's 1.4 billion population was not adequately vaccinated and the United States offered help in dealing with a surge in infections.
"The disease was spreading intensively because I believe the control measures in themselves were not stopping the disease." On Thursday night, China's state asset regulator urged state-backed big drugmakers to ensure supplies of COVID-related medicines. For all its efforts to quell the virus since it erupted in the central city of Wuhan in late 2019, China may now pay a price for shielding a population that lacks "herd immunity" and has low vaccination rates among the elderly, analysts said.
But one Shanghai care home said on Wednesday a number of its residents have not yet been vaccinated and considering their underlying medical condition, it has barred visitors and non-essential deliveries while stockpiling medicines, tests kits and protective gear.
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