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HEALTH-VIRUS-CHINA-VACCINE,LEAD
Beijing vaccinates thousands in Covid-19 jab drive
BEIJING, Jan 4, 2021 (BSS/AFP) – Thousands of people lined up in Beijing
Monday to receive a Covid-19 vaccine as China races to innoculate millions
before the Chinese New Year mass travel season in February.
More than 73,000 people in the Chinese capital have received the first dose
of the vaccine over the last couple of days, state media reported Sunday,
including community workers and bus drivers.
Health authorities on New Year’s Eve granted “conditional” approval to a
vaccine candidate made by Chinese pharma giant Sinopharm, which the company
said had a 79 percent efficacy rate.
An AFP journalist saw people being bussed into a temporary vaccine centre
at a central park, after being instructed to fill in electronic forms about
their health status and any allergies at an outside gate.
Some were wearing two layers of surgical face masks.
One man surnamed Gu, a catering worker in his 30s, told AFP his employer
had booked him a vaccine appointment at the centre, and that he wanted the
jab “for peace of mind.”
“I believe any adverse effects will be controllable,” he said.
Footage from state broadcaster CCTV showed queues outside local hospitals
and community health centres as people waited to read consent forms and have
their temperatures taken before getting the jab.
Health officials said gyms and empty factories were among centres being
used for the vaccination programme.
China plans to vaccinate millions this winter in the run-up to Lunar New
Year in mid-February.
Beijing has already administered around 4.5 million doses of largely
unproven emergency vaccines this year — mostly to health workers and other
state employees destined for overseas jobs, according to authorities.
But China now plans a gradual rollout for the vaccine starting with key
groups considered to have a high risk of exposure to the virus, including
port and food logistic workers and people planning to return to studies
abroad.
China — where the coronavirus first emerged late in 2019 — has broadly
stamped out the virus inside its borders, introducing swift local lockdowns
and mass testing when cases emerge.
But the country has stepped up testing and movement controls after a recent
spate of small local outbreaks, including a handful of cases in Beijing.
BSS/AFP/SSS/1534 hrs