Unvaccinated People to Face Restrictions in Some Provinces
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People lined up to get their COVID shots in Nantong, in China's eastern Jiangsu province. STR/AFP via Getty Images
-At least five provinces are imposing new rules to restrict the movement of unvaccinated people.
-The regulations bar those without at least one COVID shot from using a range of public facilities.
-Without proof of vaccination, one will not be allowed entry to hospitals, supermarkets, and malls.
The vaccine-hesitant population in at least five provinces won't have much choice but to get their COVID jab soon. The local governments announced this week that they will impose a gamut of new guidelines to limit where the unvaccinated can go.
Jiangxi and Zhejiang in eastern China, Shandong in the northeast, Shaanxi in the northwest, and Fujian in the south, will roll out rules within the next month that mandate proof of vaccination to use public facilities, per the South China Morning Post.
According to the SCMP, these tight regulations will not apply to those who are exempted for medical reasons. But if someone falls into this category, they must carry on their person written proof of exemption from a medical institution.
Official notices from the provincial governments of Jiangxi, Zhejiang, Shaanxi, and Fujian outlined the list of measures.
From July 26, Jiangxi will limit unvaccinated individuals over 18 from entering supermarkets, shopping malls, hospitals, transport hubs, and schools if they have not received at least one COVID-19 vaccine shot.
In Zhejiang, those who have not get at least one COVID shot will be prevented from entering hospitals, nursing homes, childcare centers, movie theaters, libraries, and museums. Fujian province is imposing similar restrictions to Zhejiang and will require proof of vaccination from August 1.
Shaanxi's notice indicated that the provincial government "actively discourages" people from visiting public facilities like restaurants, hotels, gyms, and places of worship unless vaccinated.
According to Chinese state media Xinhua, China has long maintained that it will operate its vaccine drive on a voluntary basis.
Because of this, the new slate of restrictive COVID regulations took people on Weibo (the country's version of Twitter) by surprise.
"With these drastic measures, this is obviously not voluntary vaccination anymore, it's mandatory vaccination in disguise.
If you restrict someone's ability to go anywhere, that leaves them no choice but to get their COVID shot," wrote a Weibo user with the ID SuCheYa.
Citizens in China are being given COVID shots made in China. The two key brands are Sinovac and Sinopharm, which have been approved by the World Health Organization for emergency use.
The move is part of China's relentless drive to reach herd immunity by inoculating at least 85% of its 1.3 billion-strong population.
According to the Global Times, China aims to vaccinate more than 64% of its population by the end of this year. The country hit its intermediate target of having 40% of its citizens vaccinated by the end of June, after more than 1.12 billion doses were administered to 630 million people, per the SCMP.
This, coupled with a 21-day quarantine period for foreign arrivals, has allowed China to keep its COVID cases largely under control.
China is administering an average of 12.3 million COVID shots every day. It will likely vaccinate close to 60% of its population - which evens out to around 780 million people - within the next 23 days if inoculation rates continue at this pace.
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