Soldiers assigned to a border defense regiment of the Kashgar Military Sub-command under the PLA Xinjiang Military Command are assembled on the training ground, well-prepared for multi-item military tests on January 4, 2021. Photo: eng.chinamil.com.cn

Military experts from the People's Liberation Army (PLA) said that as a professional organization, it is critical for military personnel to be fully inoculated with the COVID-19 vaccine, the PLA Daily's WeChat official account reported on Thursday. 

"Military personnel need to perform various tasks at all times and should be fully inoculated with the COVID-19 vaccine, with the exception of those cases of confirmed pre-existing medical conditions," experts from the PLA's joint prevention and control mechanism for public health emergencies told the PLA Daily.

According to the PLA Daily, military medical institutions at all levels have steadily promoted the inoculation with the COVID-19 vaccine. The PLA has established a joint prevention and control mechanism for public health emergencies to follow up and guide the inoculation in medical institutions, establish standards and norms for vaccine supply, administration, monitoring and evaluation in accordance with national and military vaccine management regulation.

For military divisions, armed police squadrons and other small and distant units that do not have military medical institutions on site, they can be coordinated to be included in the vaccination arrangements of the local authorities.

The PLA also required medical institutions at all levels to fully implement the Military COVID-19 Vaccine Vaccination Information Management System to accurately record data on vaccine circulation, vaccination and emergency use. This will ensure abnormal reactions can be identified and promptly handled in time.

Experts also stressed the importance of paying attention to contraindications before vaccination, pointing out that people must strictly abide by the specifications of the COVID-19 vaccines, and those with severe allergies to the vaccine or allergies to any of its components are excluded from inoculation. Patients with fever, acute illness or with acute onset of chronic illness also need to suspend vaccination.

At present, the Chinese vaccine research team has developed five COVID-19 vaccines, including an inactivated vaccine, an adenovirus vector vaccine and a recombinant protein vaccine, ranging from one to three doses, the PLA Daily reported.

"COVID-19 is an emerging virus that almost everyone is susceptible to it, so vaccination is essential," experts said.