BEIJING: Even though the COVID-19 pandemic is waning, people are still encouraged to get vaccinated and get their booster shots regardless of whether they have been previously infected or not, so as to reinforce herd immunity against the virus, Chinese authorities said on Monday.
At present, the domestic vaccination campaign is focused on bridging the gap in immunity levels across different populations and further reducing the risk of severe cases and deaths, according to a circular released by the State Council’s Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism.
That means continuous efforts will be made to fully vaccinate people aged 3 to 17 and ensure that those aged 18 and above get a first booster shot and that vulnerable groups including the elderly and those with severe chronic diseases obtain a second booster shot.
It noted that people recently infected with COVID-19 need only wait three months before getting vaccinated. The previously recommended waiting period was six months.
The continuous optimization of the COVID-19 control strategy since November led to an epidemic wave that peaked in late December and infected at least 80 percent of the total population, according to the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
The daily number of positive nucleic acid cases peaked on Dec 22 at 6.94 million and has trended downward falling to around 2,120 on Thursday, according to the latest data released by the China CDC on Saturday.
The daily numbers of hospitalized COVID-19 patients, severe cases and related deaths in hospitals have also fallen continuously since early January. No fatalities linked to COVID-19 have been reported since March 31.
–The Daily Mail-China Daily news exchange item
