Up to one million people in China could die from COVID-19 over the next few months, according to some of the first projections since the government lifted many of its strict ‘zero-COVID-19’ measures.
“There’s no doubt that China is in for a bad couple of months,” says James Wood, an infectious-disease modeller at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia.
However, two studies find that the number of deaths could be reduced by giving most of the population a fourth vaccine dose, combined with a high level of adherence to masking and reimposition of temporary restrictions on social interactions when death rates surge. These measures could also ease the burden on hospitals.
