Experts say the elderly in rural areas may be particularly vulnerable because of their vaccine hesitancy and inadequate medical resources. Most patients have the same symptoms suggesting a COVID infection, and most are elderly, she said. "Many elderly people have underlying diseases such as chronic bronchitis and this virus can easily lead to a lung infection." Paxlovid, the Pfizer-made COVID medicine, is in particularly high demand, with many Chinese attempting to get the drug abroad and have it shipped to China. In Lezhi county, Liao, a farmer with two children whose husband is working in a faraway province, bought an oxygen concentrator online to help with her mother's breathing.

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