China Administers 9 Million COVID-19 Vaccine Doses... Reconfirms Free Individual Vaccinations

[Asia Economy Reporter Seulgina Jo] China announced that it has administered 9 million doses of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine.

According to China Central Television (CCTV) on the 9th, Zheng Yixin, Deputy Director of the National Health Commission of China, stated this at a press conference. Deputy Director Zheng explained that 7.5 million of these doses were administered since the official start of vaccinations for key groups on the 15th of last month.

He said, "Vaccinations for individuals are free," adding, "The costs will be covered by medical insurance funds and government finances." This reaffirmed the policy of free vaccination.

Additionally, Deputy Director Zheng urged, "As many people as possible should receive the vaccine," emphasizing the need to minimize population movement ahead of the Spring Festival (Chunje, the Chinese New Year) due to the increased risk of virus transmission. He also added that the variant virus from the United Kingdom does not affect the protective ability of the vaccine.

China is encouraging vaccination. Authorities have announced that the production volume of inactivated COVID-19 vaccines this year will exceed 1 billion doses. Experts have suggested that China should import vaccines from Germany or Russia to make up for any shortages.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.