China fully vaccinates more than 1b people

BEIJING • China has fully vaccinated more than a billion people against Covid-19 - over 70 per cent of its total population - powering ahead of the United States and Europe despite having no immediate plans to ease some of the strictest pandemic measures in the world.

A total of 2.16 billion doses have been given as at Wednesday, Mr Mi Feng, a spokesman for the National Health Commission, said yesterday, with more than 1.01 billion people fully inoculated.

The milestone comes nearly 10 months after China give its first conditional approval to the inactivated vaccine from state-owned Sinopharm and kicked off the biggest immunisation campaign in history. Another six vaccines developed by domestic drugmakers and academic institutes have since been cleared and rolled out to those aged 12 and older.

The success of the vaccination strategy has not averted flare-ups of the pathogen in recent months, and questions remain about how effective the shots are, especially against the newest variants.

The country is currently battling a cluster in the south-eastern province of Fujian after squelching an earlier Delta outbreak, the broadest it has experienced since Covid-19 first appeared in Wuhan.

China reported 80 new confirmed coronavirus cases in the mainland for Wednesday, compared with 73 a day earlier, according to the National Health Commission. Of the new infections, 49 were locally transmitted, nearly all of which were in Fujian.

The vaccination pace puts China in the lead among the world's biggest economies. Just over half of the populations in the US and Japan are fully vaccinated, while the rates in Britain and Germany exceed 60 per cent. India lags behind, with less than 15 per cent of its population fully protected.

China has been even more successful in the mega cities of its developed eastern region. More than 97 per cent of adults in the capital of Beijing are fully vaccinated, as are 80 per cent of the residents over the age of 12 in nearby Tianjin. The rate is approaching 80 per cent in the financial hub of Shanghai and neighbouring Zhejiang. In contrast, the hinterland provinces and those in the remote west have lower vaccine coverage levels.

China accounts for more than a third of the 5.18 billion shots that have been administered globally. Beijing has also exported 800 million doses to the rest of the world. It has signed off on giving booster shots to those at the greatest risk of contracting the virus, including people over 60 years old.

While the arrival of the more infectious Delta variant means herd immunity is unlikely to be reached, countries in the region are increasingly pegging reopening and the lifting of restrictions to vaccination, hoping that it will make Covid-19 infections no more than minor ailments for most people.

China has signalled it will not go down this path. The country's health minister vowed last month to stick to its playbook of early detection, mass testing and aggressive controls to snuff out any sign of the virus, saying the approach guarantees economic growth.

Epidemiologists from the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, which advises Beijing on its Covid-19 response, have repeatedly said vaccinations must be coupled with existing curbs to prevent outbreaks.

Yet that combination appears unable to stop the Delta variant, which has breached China's stringent controls more easily than earlier strains. Thus far, however, vaccination has spared most people from severe illness.

Officials have said the country will eventually reopen and rely on the protection afforded by its vaccines once it is safe to do so. But there is no indication of when that will be.

BLOOMBERG, REUTERS