Residents of Heping district in North China's Tianjin take nucleic acid tests at a local elementary school sports ground on January 10, 2022. Photo: VCG
As Omicron infections spread from Tianjin to Henan Province, several regions, including Beijing, urged residents to stay put during the upcoming Spring Festival, and tightened their COVID-19 prevention policies.
Wu Zunyou, the chief epidemiologist at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, told media on Sunday that people infected with the Omicron variant usually demonstrate mild symptoms, which makes it difficult to identify and easier for it to spread, posing bigger challenges for epidemic control and prevention.
Wu said that "no matter how the virus mutates, our normalized prevention and control strategy is very effective."
Zhang Boli, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and head of the Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, pointed out a new trend caused by this round of outbreak in Tianjin is that underage group is more prone to be infected.
As for the 41 infections reported in Tianjin, 24 are teenagers and most are aged between eight and 10. A similar situation occurred in Anyang, where most cases are under 20 years old.
Epidemiologists pointed out that minors has a lower vaccination rate.
Wang Huaqing, chief expert for the immunization program at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said in December 2021 that there are more than 140 million children aged between three and 11 who have received vaccines in China.
Yet Jin noted that there's no scientific evidence suggesting Omicron in particular has caused a surge of infections among minors.
Jin said it is time to consider giving children booster shots, and Zhang also advised close monitoring of places where minors like to gather.
