China faces challenges to expand COVID-19 vaccination campaign

China faces increasing difficulties in expanding its massive COVID-19 vaccination campaign, but will continue to vaccinate more people and step up the booster dose program, a health official said on Friday.

Zheng Zhongwei, an official with the National Health Commission, did not specify the obstacles, but pointed out that those who have not been vaccinated cannot count on the protection of those who have received the vaccines, in the middle concerns about the highly transmissible Delta variant.

“Recently, as we (push the immunization work forward and) get to a later stage, it has become more and more difficult,” Zheng said at a health forum.

Zheng added that China has given full doses to some 900 million people, more than 60% of its population of 1.4 billion, but cited some experts who said the country may need a rate vaccination rate of more than 80%.

China administered about 13 million doses per day on average in July and August, a slower rate than the June daily average of 19 million.

By the end of October, the country is expected to complete the administration of regular doses to 1.1 billion people, as well as the administration of booster injections to limited groups, such as the elderly and high-income workers. risk, according to Zheng’s estimates. presentation.

Currently, people are advised to take booster doses of the same type of technology as their first vaccines, but there may be more options available once studies of using different injections as boosters have been completed. showed results, said Zheng.

China has provided 1 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines to the rest of the world, Zheng said.

President Xi Jinping said in August that China will work to deliver some 2 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines to other countries in 2021.

With information from Reuters