How Foreigners in Beijing Can Get Vaccinated: Step-by-Step
By Alistair Baker-Brian
With the announcement on Friday, March 26 that foreigners aged 18 and over in Beijing will soon be eligible for COVID-19 vaccinations, you may be wondering how this plan can be put into action.
Foreigners in the capital can now register for an inactivated China-produced vaccine to be taken in two shots.
READ MORE: Foreigners in Beijing to Be Offered Chinese Vaccine
An article published by the Beijing Office of Foreign Affairs offered some guidance as to how the vaccination program for foreigners in the capital would work. Below are some of the key steps.
Step 1 – Registration
This can be done either through your employer or residential community. Applicants must have a valid passport and residence permit. Both the passport and residence permit must be valid until at least the day of the second vaccine dose.
For those registering via residential community, you can do so via your local 居委会. At That’s, we reached out to a local government representative in Fengtai district who put us in touch with a representative from the 居委会 responsible for the Fangzhuang neighborhood. The representative confirmed with us that foreigners can register for a vaccine shot but that Fengtai district has not yet started vaccinating foreigners as of press time.
If dealing with the 居委会 seems too complicated, consider asking your employer to help you.
Step 2 – What to do on the day
All applicants must provide a valid passport and residence permit when getting their first and second shots. Applicants will be asked to sign a form of informed consent stating that they understand the risks involved and bear full responsibility for any consequences of taking the vaccine.
After receiving the dose, applicants will be asked to remain at the vaccination site for 30 minutes in case of side effects.
Step 3 – Getting your ‘vaccine certificate’
Once you’ve been vaccinated, showing your ‘vaccine certificate’ will be an important step in getting life back to normal.
Within the Beijing Health Kit, available as a WeChat Mini-Program, users can click ‘Health Service Query and Appointment’ and see a record of whether or not the user has been vaccinated. In the future, users will be able to print out a paper version of the certificate.
Of course, no vaccine is 100% effective. The risk of spreading COVID-19 will still remain. That’s why, at least in the near future, social distancing, mask-wearing, health code-scanning and other measures will remain in place.
READ MORE: China's New 'International Travel Health Certificate' Explained
[Cover image via Pixabay]
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