Who Has Priority for China's COVID-19 Vaccine?

We are not an agent or recuirter, but a headhunter !

A staff member checks the packaging quality of COVID-19 inactivated vaccine products at a packaging plant of the Beijing Biological Products Institute Co., Ltd. in Beijing, capital of China, Dec. 25, 2020. Photo: Xinhua

Beijing announced on Thursday that nine key groups of individuals will receive COVID-19 vaccines before the Spring Festival in February.

The vaccine, produced by Chinese pharmaceutical giant Sinopharm, will first be available to nine priority groups before the Spring Festival in early February, reports China Daily. These groups include:

1.  Those considered ‘high-risk’
2.  Employees of cold-chain logistics sites
3.  Border and customs inspectors
4.  Medical workers
5.  The elderly
6.  Those with pre-existing medical conditions
7.  Government employees
8.  Community workers
9.  People with plans to travel abroad

They include quarantine inspection workers at customs dealing with imported cold-chain products, porters at entry ports and those who work in the industries of international and domestic transportation.

Individuals who will travel abroad for work and personal reasons, medical workers and government department workers are also included.

The country's top health authority said ahead of the festival that family gatherings during the upcoming New Year holiday and the Spring Festival are suggested to be limited to 10 individuals.

Moreover, people with flu symptoms are suggested not to participate in order to improve COVID-19 prevention and control, the authority said after a sharp rise in the number of cases reported in China in December.

The authority also encouraged employers to adopt flexible holiday arrangements for their employees and encouraged individuals to minimize travel and to spend the holidays in the city where they work.

Twenty-five confirmed COVID-19 cases were reported on the Chinese mainland on Wednesday, including nine locally transmitted, the National Health Commission said.

Altogether 113 domestically transmitted confirmed COVID-19 cases were reported from Dec 1 to 30, up from around 60 all of last month, according to the commission.

On Wednesday, three local cases were reported in Dalian, Liaoning province and two were reported in the provincial capital Shenyang. Beiijing and Heilongjiang province each reported two local cases.

Dalian city government released a letter to its residents on Thursday, calling on them to beef up personal and family protection measures and urging them not to leave the city if unnecessary.

"The current situation is generally within control, but uncertainties and risks still exist and the city is at a critical stage of epidemic prevention and control," read the letter.

Also, a psychological assistance hotline has been put into operation in Dalian.

Experienced counselors offer help around the clock to residents suffering from mental distress caused by the pandemic.

Shenyang has tightened its measures to curb the virus' spread this week following new reports of local infections. All extracurricular training institutions have been ordered to suspend offline activities since Tuesday and kindergartens were suspended temporarily as well.

The city also said that personnel and working sites of cold-chain logistics will be subject to nucleic acid tests every three days, and the tests will also be applied regularly to staff and venues related to farmers' markets and the express delivery and transportation industries.

In Shanghai, where no COVID-19 case has been reported in December, the health authority still encouraged residents with chronic diseases, the elderly, children and pregnant women to avoid public gatherings during the holiday.

"Using a spoon to serve food and eating with separate utensils can help protect people from infection at gatherings, which should be well ventilated," the Shanghai Health Promotion Center said on Thursday.

The center also encouraged the public to be vaccinated when COVID-19 vaccines are available to the general public

"But we need to reiterate the importance of continuing to wear masks, keep social distance and maintain good personal hygiene to individuals having been vaccinated. So far the protective effect of any vaccine cannot reach 100 percent," it said.

Leaving China?

“Individuals who will travel abroad for work and personal reasons” are included in the priority groups, according to China Daily. However, what constitutes a ‘personal reason’ is a little unclear. In theory, this could cover anything from visiting your sick grandmother to taking a short vacation in Thailand.

A representative from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention told That’s it is possible to get the vaccine in order to travel abroad.

However, this requires an official company letter (including company chop) stating your reason for traveling abroad, a document from your local neighborhood watch (居委会) as well as your Chinese ID card (for Chinese citizens) or passport with your valid residence permit.

The requirement of a company letter implies that ‘personal reasons’ are currently off the cards. To complicate things further, we also contacted neighborhood watch organizations in Beijing and Tianjin who said they could not currently provide the required documentation.

While many things involving the vaccine remain uncertain at this early stage, it’s unlikely that individuals will be getting vaccinated to travel abroad anytime soon.

Govt spells out groups not eligible for vaccination

A medical worker inoculates a community worker with a COVID-19 vaccine in Beijing, capital of China, Jan 3, 2021. (Photo:Xinhua)

China has started offering free shots of COVID-19 vaccines among some key groups of individuals, and will expand the range to others, but there are still some groups that are not suitable to receive the vaccines, said a Beijing official.

Pang Xinghuo, deputy director of the Beijing center for disease control and prevention, told a news briefing on Sunday that these groups include pregnant women, lactating women and patients with some diseases.

These patients are those in the acute stage of fever and infection, suffering from immune deficiency or immune disorder, having severe liver or kidney diseases, having uncontrolled hypertension, diabetic complications or malignant tumors.

All those receiving the vaccine should read the informed consent carefully and if people have physical discomfort, they should delay the vaccination, according to the official.

Currently, people in the age group from 18 to 59 are arranged to receive the vaccination, and people not in the age group should wait for further data of clinical trials to know whether they could be vaccinated.

At a December 31 press conference, it was announced that the vaccine would be free to the public. The roll-out of vaccinations for those byond the nine priority groups will likely be announced in the near future.

Source: chinadaily.com.cn; GLOBAL TIMES

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