A staff member displays samples of the COVID-19 inactivated vaccine at Sinovac Biotech Ltd., in Beijing, capital of China, March 16, 2020. Photo: Xinhua

Shaoxing in East China's Zhejiang Province on Tuesday launched a voluntarily emergency COVID-19 vaccine use campaign to its residents following two cities in the same province - Jiaxing and Yiwu - launching a similar campaign.

Shaoxing Fabu, the official social media account for the Shaoxing government, announced that people aged between 18 and 59 years old in the region can register for the emergency use of the vaccine on designated WeChat account and website. The vaccine can be purchased for a total of 400 yuan ($60) for two doses, in addition to a 28 yuan service fee for each dose, Shaoxing Fabu announced, adding that a 14-28 day interval between the two doses is recommended.

The principles of giving priority to key groups and those in epidemic-hit areas, safe use of the vaccine and applicants being voluntary and well informed will be followed.

There are three categories of COVID-19 vaccine users: key protected people, key recommended people and general people.  

 The protected group, more specifically, consists of medical staff, epidemic prevention personnel, port, border and customs inspection people and quarantine venue workers.

The recommended group includes people guaranteeing the basic operations of the city, people working in public service venues or other special venues, and people that have business trips to middle level or high level COVID-19 risk regions. 

Shaoxing Fabu confirmed that people can register for the emergency use of the vaccine on the local health authority's WeChat account or website. Those registered persons will be informed of the vaccination time and venue based on the order of their registration and supply of the vaccine.

It is recommended that registered people read the guidelines for emergency vaccine use and have a full picture of emergency vaccines before they voluntarily choose to accept the vaccine. A written consent note is also needed before accepting the vaccine.