The number of people with COVID-19 has been rising rapidly in China in recent weeks, and there are concerns that the government in Beijing could consider reviving its strict lockdown policies again. COVID-19 cases have been surging in China, largely due to the spread of the omicron XBB variants. In February, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention pointed to early study results showing that for the bivalent vaccine boosters created to target omicron variants, "[vaccine effectiveness] was generally similar against BA.5-related infections [original omicron] and XBB/XBB.1.5-related infections."