Covid-19: Winter surge feared as China lurches away from zero covid

"With the decreasing toxicity of the omicron variant, the increasing vaccination rate, and the accumulating experience of outbreak control and prevention, China's pandemic containment faces a new stage and mission,” she said. Only two days earlier, Sun had instructed authorities in Chongqing to "launch an all out attack” to "achieve zero covid.” Since her speech, state media has driven home the message that omicron's lower lethality justifies a new approach. Vaccine gap China's overall vaccination rate is high by global standards, but with underperforming domestically produced vaccines, a lack of focus on immunising the elderly, and the time elapsed since the average person's last shot, real immunity is almost non-existent in the population.