Objective: To review the characteristic of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreaks in mainland China, particularly post-Wuhan outbreaks, and to help design effective responses in the foreseeable future. Method: The data regarding COVID-19 outbreaks between December 2019 and March 16, 2022 were obtained from China’s publicly available databases. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Five outbreak stages were defined according to distinct epidemiological characteristics across different time periods over the past two years. Result: Since the 2020 Wuhan outbreak, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) local infections were confirmed in 37 995 cases as of March 16, 2022. We identified 285 isolated outbreaks in unrelated people that occurred in four additional distinct stages, over 57% of which had been imported, such as imported infected travelers and fomite transmission. The basic reproduction number (R0) of original SARS-CoV-2 was about 2.79, while the Delta variant was about 5.08 and Omicron was 7.0 or greater, resulting in the disease being more contagious during the fourth (Delta) and fifth (Omicron) stages than previous stages. Conclusion: China has experienced various COVID-19 outbreaks of different levels since the start of the pandemic in Wuhan, and local transmission is mainly caused by imported sources. If the “dynamic COVID-zero” policy is not appropriately followed, it will be difficult to contain the spread in China from overseas and to cope with the Omicron variant.

Covaxin and Covishield have been granted approval for emergency medical use in India due to the severity of COVID-19. Both vaccines are safe and effective and have a good immunogenic response. There is no difference between Covaxin and Covishield in terms of dosages and both can be administered as 0.5 mL (containing 6 mg of virus antigen for Covaxin and 5×10¹⁰ virus particles for Covishield) in the upper arm region. Covaxin and Covishield are designed for a two dose schedule, and it is advised that the second dose of Covaxin be administered 4-6 weeks after the first dose while 12-16 weeks after the first dose for Covishield. These vaccines may have several side effects such as swelling and itching at the injection site, joint pain, dizziness, headache, allergic reaction, increased heartbeat, and fever. Appropriate counselling and suggestion should be provided for any symptoms associated with vaccination so that post-vaccinated issues can be managed. Physician and community pharmacists may play a vital role in the management of adverse drug event associated with vaccines.