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March 25, 2021

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Jabs pushed with coupons in Beijing

SHOPPERS in a district of Beijing are getting discount coupons if they have received COVID-19 vaccinations, as China tries to accelerate its vaccination rate.

Daxing District, with a population of about 1.8 million, started handing out the coupons yesterday to people who have received two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine. The coupons range in value from 8 yuan (US$1.23) to 30 yuan each depending on various conditions, and can be used at supermarkets in Daxing.

More than 200 million yuan (US$30.7 million) worth of discounts will be distributed through the coupons, Beijing Daily newspaper said. More than 73 percent of people in Daxing aged 18 and above have had at least one shot, it reported.

Vaccinating the world’s most populous country has been slower than expected due to a lack of urgency among a public confident in China’s early success in curbing the virus.

China aims to vaccinate 40 percent of its population against the coronavirus by the end of June.

A total of 82.85 million vaccine doses were given by Tuesday, the National Health Commission said yesterday. That compares with 74.96 million administered as of the end of Saturday, indicating a significant acceleration of the vaccination drive.

In the next step, China plans to speed up its universal, free-of-charge immunization program, expanding its coverage from people at higher risk for COVID-19 to the general public, according to the State Council’s COVID-19 response inter-agency taskforce.

A widespread concentrated vaccination is in the offing.

China’s daily output of COVID-19 vaccines has reached about 5 million doses, more than tripling the 1.5 million-dose daily production rate on February 1, said Minister of Industry and Information Technology Xiao Yaqing.




 

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