Foreign journalists, diplomats get Sinopharm vaccines in Beijing
Beijing, Mar 23 (efe-epa).- Dozens of foreign journalists and diplomats on Tuesday were inoculated in Beijing with one of the vaccines developed by the state-run Sinopharm pharmaceutical company in an initiative launched by the foreign ministry.
Eligible foreign journalists and diplomatic staff headed to a large tent set up in the capital to receive the first dose of the vaccine in a process that was highly-organized and quick.
Clinical trials show that 90 percent of the inoculated develop antibodies 28 days after receiving the second shot of the jab.
Currently, the vaccines are available to Beijing-based foreign reporters and diplomats aged between 19 and 59 but the campaign will be expanded to include other cities, diplomatic sources told Efe.
China had administered over 74.96 million doses of coronavirus vaccines as of 20 March, according to the spokesperson for the Chinese National Health Commission, Mi Feng.
Nearly 10 million jabs were applied in less than a week as part of efforts to inoculate 40% of the country’s 1.4 billion inhabitants by June, he said.
Head of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Gao Fu, recently told state-run CGTN news that they hoped between 70 and 80% of the population would be vaccinated by the end of the year and that the country would have herd immunity by mid-2022.
China is considering applying different visa policies and controls for overseas passengers in light of the progress of the vaccination campaigns in their respective countries of origin, Mi added.
For now, authorities are not considering the possibility of exempting vaccinated people from the strict quarantine measures applied to international passengers in cities such as Beijing, according to Feng Zijian, vice president of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
Thus far, China has approved the commercialization of four Covid-19 vaccines, including two developed by Sinopharm, one by Cansino, and another by Sinovac. EFE-EPA
