China has achieved a major and decisive victory in its COVID-19 prevention and control since November 2022, the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee said at a meeting on Thursday.

Putting the people and their lives first, the CPC Central Committee has optimized prevention and control measures in light of evolving situations, efficiently coordinated COVID-19 response with economic and social development, managed to avoid the widespread prevalence of virus strains with strong pathogenicity and high lethality, effectively protected the people's lives and health, and has won precious time for winning the battle against COVID-19 prevention and control, the meeting said.

A study published in October shows that patients infected with the Omicron variant were significantly less likely to be admitted to the hospital or into the ICU than those infected with the Alpha, Gamma or Delta variants.

Three years on, China has effectively coped with over 100 COVID-19 epidemic outbreaks and managed to keep its incidence rate, severe illness rate and mortality rate at the world's lowest level, saving numerous lives.

According to estimates from the World Health Organization (WHO), China's COVID-19 control measures may have prevented more than 50,000 people from dying between 2020 and 2021.

Last month's data shows that over 90 percent of China's 1.4 billion population has been fully vaccinated, and over 90 percent of people over the age of 60 have been fully vaccinated.

Meanwhile, China has ratcheted the production of medication to treat COVID-19 to ensure a sufficient supply for those in need in light of the country's optimization of its epidemic response.

With continuous efforts to optimize COVID-19 prevention and control measures since November 2022, China's COVID-19 response has made a smooth transition in a relatively short time, with more than 200 million people accessing medical services, nearly 800,000 severe cases receiving proper treatment, and the country's COVID-19 fatality rate remaining the world's lowest, the meeting said.

The meeting stressed the need to continue optimizing the layout of medical resources and called for scientific planning for the next phase of COVID-19 vaccinations, in particular, improving the vaccination rate among the elderly.