China CDC: "To Achieve Herd Immunity in China, 2 Billion Vaccine Doses Must Be Administered"

Achievement of 1 Billion Vaccine Doses Administered "Too Early to Be Assured"
Goal to Produce 5 Billion Vaccine Doses by the End of This Year

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunwoo Lee] As the cumulative number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in China has surpassed 1 billion, the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced that it has set a vaccination target of over 2 billion doses, a level sufficient to achieve herd immunity, and plans to produce more than 5 billion doses of vaccines within the year. Considering China's total population of approximately 1.4 billion, at least 80%, or more than 1 billion people, need to be vaccinated to achieve herd immunity.

According to local media including the Hong Kong South China Morning Post (SCMP) on the 22nd, Xiao Yiming, a researcher at the Chinese CDC, said in an interview with China Central Television (CCTV) the previous day, "Assuming the vaccine's immune efficacy is 100%, the minimum vaccination threshold for herd immunity is 66% of the population. However, since the vaccines currently used in China do not have 100% immune efficacy, the vaccination target should be set at 80-85%." He emphasized, "If we consider China's population to be about 1.4 billion, at least 1 billion people need to be vaccinated."

Chinese health authorities also consider that since most of the currently available vaccines require at least two doses, approximately 2 billion doses or more are needed. Researcher Xiao stated, "We expect to be able to produce 5 billion doses of vaccines by the end of the year," and emphasized, "We are confident that at the national level, there is the capability and resources to establish a herd immunity barrier within the year."

However, as doubts about the immune efficacy of the commercially used vaccines in China grow, there are also concerns that more vaccines will be needed for additional booster shots. The Sinopharm and Sinovac vaccines, which are mainly used in China, had immune efficacies of 79% and 51%, respectively, at the time of emergency use approval by the World Health Organization (WHO). These rates are significantly lower compared to Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, which showed over 90% effectiveness.

SCMP reported, "A comparison of antibody levels between recipients of the Pfizer vaccine and China's Sinovac vaccine showed that the antibody levels of the Sinovac vaccine were relatively low," adding, "This suggests that additional booster shots may be necessary to enhance the immune effect of the Sinovac vaccine."

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