Photo: Yang Hui/GT

 
Shanghai announced on Tuesday it will speed up the COVID-19 inoculation program, after China’s National Health Commission said nearly 65 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines had been administered across the country as of Sunday.

Shanghai’s move follows other Chinese cities, including Beijing, Hangzhou and Wuhan, which have all started speeding up the inoculation.

The COVID-19 vaccine is free and currently focuses on the population aged between 18 and 59, the Shanghai Health Commission announced on Tuesday, noting that the mass inoculation for people over 60 will be carried out in accordance with the national plan.

In the first half of this year, the program will mainly cover high-risk groups such as people on risk of infection abroad and staff working on the frontline combating the virus. At present, the vaccination of this group is being carried out in an orderly manner, the local health commission said.

Next, the population to be inoculated includes the elderly and people with underlying health conditions. As data related to the effectiveness of these groups in current clinical trials are not enough, the vaccination of these groups will be arranged based on the progress of vaccine research and development, according to the local health commission. Mass vaccination on these groups will be carried out in a timely manner when sufficient safety and efficacy data are obtained from clinical trials.

In addition to the above two groups, other residents who are willing to be vaccinated will be able to receive the shot within the year.

Shanghai uses homemade inactivated coronavirus vaccine which works by using killed viral particles to expose the body's immune system to the virus without risking a serious response.

The city authorities also called for eligible residents to register for vaccination soon in order to build an immune barrier earlier and resume normal social and business life as quickly as possible.

Global Times