The Centers for Disease Control in Taiwan reported that the "serological survey" for COVID-19, which was conducted last year, indicated that about 80% of the population had been infected with the disease at least once before June of last year.

The Central Epidemic Command Center in Taiwan had stated in February last year that it tasked the Taiwan Blood Services Foundation to work with the Centers for Disease Control to conduct a serological survey of antibodies to detect COVID-19, according to the "Taipei Times" newspaper today, Wednesday.

The foundation selected about 7,000 blood samples, donated between January and June of last year, randomly and removed the personal information of the donors. The blood was tested by the Centers for Disease Control to detect antibodies for what is known as the "nucleocapsid protein" of the coronavirus, a protein that encloses the genetic material of the SARS-CoV-2 strain, which can indicate a previous infection.

The Centers for Disease Control in Taiwan urged citizens on January 5th to get the latest COVID-19 vaccine as soon as possible, as new research shows that older vaccines provide almost no protection against severe symptoms caused by the XBB variant, a sub-variant of the Omicron variant.

Deputy Director-General of the Centers for Disease Control, Philip Lo, said he advises adults, immunocompromised individuals, and the elderly to get the new vaccines, citing a new study on the outbreak of the variant in Southern California.

The World Health Organization expressed concern on September 27th last year over the increase in COVID-19 infections in many countries with the arrival of winter.