Beijing residents line up for booster shots on October 27, 2021. Photo: VCG

Beijing, the capital city, has vowed to promote booster shots of COVID-19 vaccines among construction workers and people in the services sector, such as chefs, purchasers, attendants, cleaners and security guards, and booster shots will be made mandatory for personnel in high-risk key positions. 

The capital city reported five new cases and two asymptomatic infections on Thursday, bringing the total number of local infections to 27. All these patients were under quarantine before they were confirmed as infected with COVID-19. 

One of the new infections reported on Thursday is a community worker, who contracted the virus while installing a lock to the apartment door of a confirmed case on October 21, without wearing disposable gloves despite wearing an N95 mask. The two had a conversation within a short distance. 

At present, epidemiological investigations, laboratory testing and tracing of close contacts are being carried out to further identify high-risk spots, with focus placed on key groups at risk, officials said. 

Community chess and card rooms and other confined places in Beijing are required to be shut down temporarily and supervision on private, small clinics and pharmacies will be strengthened, Xu Hejian, spokesperson from the Beijing municipal government, said at a briefing. 

Meanwhile, Beijing launched the inoculation of COVID-19 vaccines among residents aged between 3 and 11 on Thursday. 

The local spreading of infectious diseases is prone to happen in densely populated schools and kindergartens, thus inoculation among this age group is an essential part of building immunity for the whole population and an important measure to block the transmission of the coronavirus, the Beijing authority stressed. 

At the moment, the capital city is facing severe challenges in epidemic prevention and control. In order to prevent the spread and infection clusters, all kinds of overseas examinations including TOEFL, IELTS and GRE tests scheduled to be held in Beijing will be canceled. 

In another development, two people have been filed for criminal investigation by Beijing police for their failure to cooperate in the epidemiological investigations. One resisted to answer phone calls, while the other verbally abused investigators, police said.

Global Times