Photo: Chen Xia/GT

Shanghai residents started to receive an inhaled adenovirus type-5 vector-based COVID-19 vaccine for booster doses on Wednesday as research has indicated that the booster can enhance immunity and offer prolonged protection. 

Shanghai became the first city in China to provide the inhaled COVID-19 vaccine boosters. More than 23 million Shanghai residents have received full vaccination and 12 million of them have received booster shots as of Tuesday, said local authorities. 

In Shanghai's Tianshan Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital in Changning district, a Global Times reporter saw some residents arriving to receive the inhaled COVID-19 vaccine booster doses on Wednesday. Most of them read the information released by the Shanghai authorities on Tuesday. A total of 79 residents received the inhaled COVID-19 vaccine booster doses in the hospital on Wednesday, according to the hospital. 

He Jinhui, a nurse in the hospital's infectious disease department, started work early at about 7 am on Wednesday. "Before vaccination, I will give them instructions on how the process works, and there is also a poster here to guide the residents," He told the Global Times on Wednesday.

"Exhale deeply first, hold the mouth of the atomizer and inhale the vaccine, and then hold your breath for at least five seconds before regular breathing," He said. He suggested that people shouldn't take the vaccine on an empty stomach and should drink more water after vaccination.

The Global Times talked to several residents who received the vaccine, and most of them expressed confidence. "I want to follow the country's epidemic prevention and control measures and the booster doses can help enhance immunity, which is also a way to be responsible for my family members as well as society," a 36-year-old Shanghai resident surnamed Shen told the Global Times on Wednesday.

"The whole process is very convenient. It also tastes a little bit sweet," Shen said. 

Another person surnamed Yuan, who has been living in Shanghai for two years, told the Global Times he felt that it was "very convenient" and especially good for people who are afraid of being injected. 

Shanghai kicked off registration and reservations for the vaccine boosters on Tuesday. People who received the full series of injections of COVID-19 vaccinations at least six months ago, and are 18 years or older, can receive one free inhaled booster, according to the authorities.

The move is the latest effort by China to explore new and better strategies of mass vaccination in the face of the rapidly mutating virus while upholding a dynamic-zero COVID-19 policy to protect the lives and safety of the Chinese people to the utmost amid nationwide sporadic cases.