China fully vaccinates more than 1 billion as Fujian battles Covid-19
Expert says children under 12 should get jabbed to further boost herd immunity
BEIJING : China has fully vaccinated more than one billion people against the coronavirus - 71 per cent of its population - official figures showed yesterday.
The country had mostly curbed the virus within its borders but is racing to get the vast majority of its population vaccinated as a new outbreak takes hold in the south-east.
"As of Sept 15, 2.16 billion vaccine doses have been administered nationwide," said National Health Commission spokesman Mi Feng.
Chinese health authorities said late last month that 890 million people in China had been fully vaccinated and two billion doses administered.
The government has not publicly announced a target for vaccination coverage, but top virologist Zhong Nanshan said last month that the country is likely to have 80 per cent of its population inoculated by the end of the year.
China is currently battling an outbreak of the Delta variant in the south-eastern province of Fujian that has infected almost 200 people so far in three cities, many of whom are children.
This has prompted Dr Wang Huaqing, chief expert for China's immunisation programme at the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, to say yesterday that China should consider inoculating children under 12 to further boost its vaccination drive.
DELTA THREAT
Dr Wang said China has to stay vigilant as the Delta variant undermines the effort to build herd immunity.
"Only when more people are vaccinated can the effect of (vaccines) be truly realised," Dr Wang told a news briefing.
" People under 12 years of age, who are yet to be vaccinated, should be considered too (for immunisation)."
China's two main vaccines, developed by Sinovac and Sinopharm, have been approved for use in children from the age of three but the authorities have yet to make children under 12 eligible for the programme.
The Fujian cluster is the biggest rebound in weeks and comes after the country declared the Delta variant under control, in a test of China's zero-case approach to the pandemic.
China reported 80 new cases yesterday, of which 49 were domestic transmissions. Nearly all were in Fujian. - AFP, REUTERS
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