Outbreaks give impetus to vaccination drive
Print Edition
CHINA is working at full throttle to vaccinate its people against COVID-19 with over 400 million doses administered by Sunday, just nine days after the figure surpassed 300 million doses.
It took 17 days for the number of COVID-19 vaccines administered on the Chinese mainland to exceed 300 million doses from 200 million doses, and 26 days from 100 million doses to 200 million doses, according to the National Health Commission.
The accelerated mass vaccination drive has been partially spurred by the latest COVID-19 outbreaks in east China’s Anhui Province and northeast China’s Liaoning Province, which had seen 16 confirmed locally transmitted cases in total as of Sunday evening.
The local authorities said none of the confirmed cases from the two provinces had been vaccinated.
Gene sequencing analysis conducted by the provincial center for disease control and prevention of Anhui found the coronavirus strains behind the cases were not the highly infectious variants found in India and South Africa.
Long queues were seen at multiple vaccination sites in Hefei, capital city of Anhui. A temporary vaccination site has been set up in the Second Hospital of Anhui Medical University to meet the surging demand since May 14.
Duan Yichen, a Hefei citizen, queued up at the hospital early in the morning the next day.
“I had thought of it before, but I never went. The recent outbreaks made me realize the importance of vaccination,” Duan said. “Getting vaccinated without delay means taking responsibility for yourself and the well-being of others.”
As of May 14, Hefei had administered over 2.6 million doses. The day also witnessed the city’s highest daily inoculation number so far — 364,100 doses. The city currently has more than 7,100 medical staff for COVID-19 inoculation and treatment, capable of administering 300,000 jabs a day in normal circumstances.
Liaoning’s capital Shenyang has set up over 300 vaccination sites capable of administering 200,000 doses a day.
“Since May 12, Shenyang has seen more than 100,000 doses administered every day. About 154,000 doses were administered on Thursday, the highest figure in recent days,” said Dong Guihua, deputy director of the city’s center for disease control and prevention.
A mobile inoculation vehicle has appeared in Shenyang’s downtown area, which can serve three people at a time.
Meanwhile, citywide nucleic acid tests were launched in resurgence hot spots, while dozens of neighborhoods were sealed off and labeled as medium- or high-risk areas.
Experts have effectively ruled out the possibility of mass infections in Anhui.
“Vaccination is a great way to achieve herd immunity. The vaccination rate in China is still low and behind many countries. So we need to step up efforts to raise our vaccination rate to 70 to 80 percent as soon as possible,” said Zhong Nanshan, a Chinese respiratory disease expert.
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