Seasoned expats could get the prick

• Source: Global Times
• [01:48 November 24 2009]
• Comments

By Li Yang

Patients at Capital Institute of Pediatrics. The government announced that all patients should wear surgical masks when going to the hospital. Photo: IC

The Beijing Municipal Health Bureau has been discussing A(H1N1) vaccinations for longtime foreign residents.

"The Foreign Affairs Office is still discussing with the health bureau on how to vaccinate all the foreigners who have been living in Beijing for a long time," said Zhu Xu, an officer at the Beijing Foreign Affairs Office.

The current plan is only aimed at foreign diplomats, according to Zhu. But according to Ma Yanming, a spokesperson for the Beijing Health Bureau, if their employers are eligible under the government's plan, some foreigners are able to receive the vaccinations already. "Beijing only has about 5 million vaccines but 20 million residents, so the plan should be expanded step by step," he said.

The foreign staff members of the Global Times were eligible and all staff was offered inoculation on November 5.

Every embassy in Beijing was informed that diplomats can go to the Peking Union Medical College Hospital in Wangfujing to get their injections from November 20 to December 30, said Zhu.

The plan drew attention from Americans who want to be inoculated, according to Wulan Tuya, public relations officer for the US Chamber of Commerce. "The chamber is negotiating with the government on getting all the members to take the vaccine for free," she said. The proposed plan is supposedly not mandatory.

"It's a good thing if the government's plan is true," said Andrew Gutteridge, an Australian working at the SGA Golf Academy as a senior coach, adding that he will take the vaccine.

Charles Bernald, a 30-yearold American working in film, told the Global Times that he would not bother with the vaccine because he was not worried about A(H1N1). "I don't think it's killing people as much as people think it is. It's a regular flu," he said. "I am strong and healthy. I don't need that."

The government decided last week to expand the free A(H1N1) flu vaccination plan to people without Beijing hukou, a Beijing residency permit, to cool heated debates on the previous Beijingers-only plan.

According to the health bureau, 8,069 people in Beijing have been infected with the A(H1N1) flu and two people have died including a Russian as of November 15. The bureau also said that about 2 million Beijing residents will have safely received A(H1N1) vaccinations as of November 20.

Qin Danfeng contributed to this story