Since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic China has had one big policy in place, the 0 covid policy. With this policy China had the lowest death toll at the beginning of the pandemic compared to other countries. China accomplished this with large scale lockdowns, mass testing, and lots of quarantining for those who were sick. All these protocols kept the deadly virus away. But with veriants of the virus such as delta, and omicron popping up, really challenged the policy.
This policy sounds great for China, but in 2022 there will be a lot of lockdowns. Without people being able to get near each other causes no one to be able to do their job. China has suffered food shortages and other deprivations. Local officials were given the nearly impossible task of controlling all of the outbreaks with as least social and economic disruption as possible.
The worst part is that the local officials are going to face punishment if they fail to meet these outrageous standards. Right now there are no real options because opening up now would lead to millions if not thousands of deaths, because China has no herd immunity. Herd immunity is when a population is immune to spreading a infectious disease due to the whole population already being infected in some way shape or form, either they got a vaccine, or they got sick
Vaccines are not an option either due to the fact that China’s local vaccines are not as effective against the virus as foreign-made vaccines, which Beijing refuses to allow into China. The reason is still unknown but some speculate that it is a matter of national pride.
