“China facing new wave of COVID-19 infections, 65 million cases per week predicted by 2023”

Jakarta –

China is expected to face a new wave of COVID-19 infections that could reach 65 million cases per week by the end of June 2023. This alarming prediction was made by respiratory disease specialist Zhong Nanshan at a biotechnology conference in Guangzhou.

Zhong’s estimate provides a glimpse into the potential impact of Omicron’s newest variant, XBB, which has fueled a spike in cases across China since late April.

According to a Bloomberg report, XBB is expected to generate 40 million infections per week by the end of May before peaking to 65 million by the end of June 2023. This increase comes almost six months after China abandoned its Zero COVID policy, which allowed the virus to spread rapidly among 1.4 billion people of the country.

Even the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention had stopped updating its weekly statistics earlier this month, leaving many to question the true impact of COVID-19 in China.

Zhong’s forecast suggests that this latest wave of infections will be more severe than the previous wave that hit China late last year through January.

At the time, a different variant of Omicron likely infected 37 million people each day, overwhelming hospitals and crematoriums and leaving residents scrambling for limited supplies of fever medicine.

In response to this new threat, China rushed to strengthen its vaccine arsenal with a new immunization specifically targeting XBB. The country’s drug regulator has already given initial approval for two such vaccines, with another three or four expected to be approved soon.

“We can take the lead internationally in developing a more effective vaccine,” said Zhong.

A World Health Organization (WHO) advisory group recently also recommended that this year’s COVID-19 booster shot be updated to target one of the currently dominant XBB variants.

New formulations should aim to generate antibody responses against the XBB.1.5 or XBB.1.16 variants, and other formulations or platforms that achieve neutralizing antibody responses to the XBB lineages may also be considered.

The group also advises against including the original COVID-19 strain in future vaccines. This is because the antibodies produced are detectable or very low against the currently circulating variants.

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(juice/juice)