A boy receives COVID-19 vaccine in Baiyun district in Guangzhou, South China's Guangdong Province on October 27, 2021. Photo: VCG

There is more urgency to roll out vaccination to minors aged 3-11 as the COVID-19 flare up continues, with more cases reported across the country, officials and experts said. 

The latest outbreak has affected 44 cities in 20 provinces, as another 50 domestically transmitted cases were reported on Saturday. 

Among the new cases, 21 domestic cases are in Hebei, nine in Northeast China's Liaoning, with another six in Heilongjiang, with some sporadic cases in other provinces, official statistics showed. 

Medical experts urged speeding up the rollout of vaccination and booster shots to reach herd immunity as soon as possible in face of the double threats of the cold weather and Delta variant.  

Since the outbreak in Wuhan last year, more than 30 local outbreaks were detected in China caused by imported cases. Confirmed cases relating to this epidemic resurgence have already reached 918 from October 17 to November 5, affecting 44 cities in 20 provinces, according to China's National Health Commission.

Wang Qinghua, chief immunologist of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, stressed the urgency of children being vaccinated at a press conference in Beijing on Saturday. 

"We used to think of COVID-19 as having low incidence in children, but as the pandemic has spread globally, we have seen increased infections in children, with the rates of severe illness and mortality surpassing influenza in some countries… and the hospitalization rate for children is now more than 10 times higher than earlier this year," Wang said.

Child immunity is part of China's strategy to reach herd immunity through vaccination. The inactivated vaccines China uses have demonstrated strong immune levels in clinical trials and adverse reactions among children is no higher than in adults, Wang added. 

The latest open data showed that as of October 29, more than 3.53 million doses of coronavirus vaccine have been administered to children aged 3 to 11 across the country. The NHC is aiming to complete vaccinations for this group by the end of December on a voluntary basis.

Tao Lina, a Shanghai-based medical expert on vaccines, told the Global Times on Sunday that children can become infection sources in households and vaccinating them can prevent them from carrying the virus and causing new cluster infections, which shows the importance of children being vaccinated.  

The latest resurgence of COVID-19 in China has spread in schools, affecting students and kindergarten children in at least four places, with Beijing, Gansu, Hebei and Heilongjiang detecting outbreaks related to schools and kindergartens.

Zhenzhou, the capital city of North China's Henan Province had also detected 30 positive cases as of Sunday, 19 of whom were students from kindergartens, primary schools and a high school.

Tao said China still needs to speed up the vaccination rollout for children, and recommends the country continue to advocate the benefits of children getting vaccinated and on reducing concerns from parents. 

An employee at Zhejiang provincial disease prevention and control center told the Global Times on Sunday that they are working with schools to promote vaccination for children aged 3-11. To ease public concerns, the center will step up its social media and community-led campaigns to promote the benefits of vaccination. 

Moreover, China's top epidemiologist Zhong Nanshan said that vaccination protection lasts about six months and it is necessary to receive a booster shot to strengthen immunity. By the end of this year, about 80 percent of the population in China should be vaccinated with two shots, Zhong said. 

Since mid-October, cities including Xi'an, Guangzhou, Hefei and Beijing have launched booster shot campaigns, targeting key groups covering police, firefighters, and people working in education, healthcare, transportation and logistics. 

Over the weekend, the Global Times found as part of efforts to reduce the risk of imported cases causing a domestic outbreak, many places have tightened their control of goods purchased overseas, and are reminding residents not to buy products from overseas epidemic-hit regions. 

This measure comes as the annual online shopping spree on November 11 is approaching and goods purchased from Mongolia by residents in Erenhot, North China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region tested positive for COVID-19. 

Provincial regions including Heilongjiang, Inner Mongolia, Shandong and Hunan have released notifications to remind residents to stop purchasing from overseas, and postal and courier companies to stop delivering goods sent from overseas epidemic-hit areas. 

In order to prevent imported infection and stop the transmission chain of the virus through goods, Xunke county in Heilongjiang required the logistics and courier companies to seal up goods mailed from abroad in a designated area immediately and report to the county's epidemic prevention and control cold-chain food work group. The county also encourages the public to supervise and report goods purchased from overseas epidemic-hit areas. 

Many places stipulate that if residents need to purchase or have purchased goods from overseas, they have to report to their communities, villages or companies at once. Those who fail to report and cause transmission risks of COVID-19 or other serious consequences will be held accountable in accordance with the law. 

Consumers who plan to purchase products overseas via purchasing agents are advised to ask suppliers to provide nucleic acid testing results and not to purchase products without them. 

Meanwhile, about 25,000 people working at high-risk posts in ports are in closed-loop management and receive tests every two days, officials from Ministry of Transport said on Saturday. 

A boy receives COVID-19 vaccine in Baiyun district in Guangzhou, South China's Guangdong Province on October 27, 2021. Photo: VCG

There is more urgency to roll out vaccination to minors aged 3-11 as the COVID-19 flare up continues, with more cases reported across the country, officials and experts said. 

The latest outbreak has affected 44 cities in 20 provinces, as another 50 domestically transmitted cases were reported on Saturday. 

Among the new cases, 21 domestic cases are in Hebei, nine in Northeast China's Liaoning, with another six in Heilongjiang, with some sporadic cases in other provinces, official statistics showed. 

Medical experts urged speeding up the rollout of vaccination and booster shots to reach herd immunity as soon as possible in face of the double threats of the cold weather and Delta variant.  

Since the outbreak in Wuhan last year, more than 30 local outbreaks were detected in China caused by imported cases. Confirmed cases relating to this epidemic resurgence have already reached 918 from October 17 to November 5, affecting 44 cities in 20 provinces, according to China's National Health Commission.

Wang Qinghua, chief immunologist of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, stressed the urgency of children being vaccinated at a press conference in Beijing on Saturday. 

"We used to think of COVID-19 as having low incidence in children, but as the pandemic has spread globally, we have seen increased infections in children, with the rates of severe illness and mortality surpassing influenza in some countries… and the hospitalization rate for children is now more than 10 times higher than earlier this year," Wang said.

Child immunity is part of China's strategy to reach herd immunity through vaccination. The inactivated vaccines China uses have demonstrated strong immune levels in clinical trials and adverse reactions among children is no higher than in adults, Wang added. 

The latest open data showed that as of October 29, more than 3.53 million doses of coronavirus vaccine have been administered to children aged 3 to 11 across the country. The NHC is aiming to complete vaccinations for this group by the end of December on a voluntary basis.

Tao Lina, a Shanghai-based medical expert on vaccines, told the Global Times on Sunday that children can become infection sources in households and vaccinating them can prevent them from carrying the virus and causing new cluster infections, which shows the importance of children being vaccinated.  

The latest resurgence of COVID-19 in China has spread in schools, affecting students and kindergarten children in at least four places, with Beijing, Gansu, Hebei and Heilongjiang detecting outbreaks related to schools and kindergartens.

Zhenzhou, the capital city of North China's Henan Province had also detected 30 positive cases as of Sunday, 19 of whom were students from kindergartens, primary schools and a high school.

Tao said China still needs to speed up the vaccination rollout for children, and recommends the country continue to advocate the benefits of children getting vaccinated and on reducing concerns from parents. 

An employee at Zhejiang provincial disease prevention and control center told the Global Times on Sunday that they are working with schools to promote vaccination for children aged 3-11. To ease public concerns, the center will step up its social media and community-led campaigns to promote the benefits of vaccination. 

Moreover, China's top epidemiologist Zhong Nanshan said that vaccination protection lasts about six months and it is necessary to receive a booster shot to strengthen immunity. By the end of this year, about 80 percent of the population in China should be vaccinated with two shots, Zhong said. 

Since mid-October, cities including Xi'an, Guangzhou, Hefei and Beijing have launched booster shot campaigns, targeting key groups covering police, firefighters, and people working in education, healthcare, transportation and logistics. 

Over the weekend, the Global Times found as part of efforts to reduce the risk of imported cases causing a domestic outbreak, many places have tightened their control of goods purchased overseas, and are reminding residents not to buy products from overseas epidemic-hit regions. 

This measure comes as the annual online shopping spree on November 11 is approaching and goods purchased from Mongolia by residents in Erenhot, North China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region tested positive for COVID-19. 

Provincial regions including Heilongjiang, Inner Mongolia, Shandong and Hunan have released notifications to remind residents to stop purchasing from overseas, and postal and courier companies to stop delivering goods sent from overseas epidemic-hit areas. 

In order to prevent imported infection and stop the transmission chain of the virus through goods, Xunke county in Heilongjiang required the logistics and courier companies to seal up goods mailed from abroad in a designated area immediately and report to the county's epidemic prevention and control cold-chain food work group. The county also encourages the public to supervise and report goods purchased from overseas epidemic-hit areas. 

Many places stipulate that if residents need to purchase or have purchased goods from overseas, they have to report to their communities, villages or companies at once. Those who fail to report and cause transmission risks of COVID-19 or other serious consequences will be held accountable in accordance with the law. 

Consumers who plan to purchase products overseas via purchasing agents are advised to ask suppliers to provide nucleic acid testing results and not to purchase products without them. 

Meanwhile, about 25,000 people working at high-risk posts in ports are in closed-loop management and receive tests every two days, officials from Ministry of Transport said on Saturday.