Residents line up to undergo nucleic acid testing in Zhengzhou, Central China’s Henan Province on November 23, 2022. Photo: IC

A weekly report published by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) concluded that more than 82 percent of the Chinese population contracted coronavirus between December 2022 and February 2023.

The report said that COVID-19 cases surged during December 2022 through to January 2023. Since many of those infected did not undertake a nucleic acid test or antigen test, the CDC could not accurately count exact infection numbers.

A research team from the Chinese CDC conducted online surveys from December 2022 to February 2023, asking respondents for their basic information and infection details.

The results revealed that the self-reported infections in China peaked during December 19 to 21, 2022. As of February 7, 2023, more than 82.4 percent of the country's population contracted the coronavirus.

The team also discovered that domestically developed COVID-19 vaccines are effective in preventing COVID-19 symptoms, including fever, sore muscles and fatigue. The effectiveness of the booster shot against infection by the Omicron subvariant was 49 percent within three months of vaccination and 37.9 percent three to six months after vaccination.

The research team admitted that the research methodology had certain limitations as the survey is limited to only WeChat users, and only covered a sample of 2,316 participants who were infected within certain dates.

Global Times