CHINA / SOCIETY
China’s vaccination rate rises to 12.2%, but global inoculation needs to hurry up: Chinese expert
Published: Apr 18, 2021 12:03 PM
A medical worker inoculates a man with a COVID-19 vaccine at a vaccination site in Daxing District of Beijing, capital of China, Jan. 3, 2021. Beijing has started administering COVID-19 vaccines among specific groups of people with higher infection risks. Nine groups of people aged 18 to 59 will receive the vaccine before the Spring Festival of 2021, which falls on Feb. 12.(Photo: Xinhua)

A medical worker inoculates a man with a COVID-19 vaccine at a vaccination site in Daxing district of Beijing, capital of China, Jan. 3, 2021. (Photo: Xinhua)



Chinese people's coronavirus vaccination rate has climbed to 12.2 percent, the eighth highest in the world, making China the second-largest country in terms of total vaccine doses administered. 

And, the country is on the verge of becoming number one in number of administered doses, Zhang Wenhong, the country's leading infectious disease specialist wrote on his Sina Weibo account over the weekend.

More than 187.37 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines had been administered in China as of April 16, the National Health Commission said on Saturday. Now, Chinese cities are stepping up efforts to build immune barriers together. 

Shanghai, a city with over 20 million permanent residents, has administered more than 10 million doses. And, in South China's Hainan Province with 9.5 million permanent residents, it has injected over 5 million doses.

From the H1N1 flu pandemic in 1918, SARS in 2003, H1N1 pandemic in 2009, to the H7N9 bird flu in 2013, human beings have never been forced to shut down by a pandemic for such a long time, and the future remains uncertain, Zhang wrote. 

Zhang wrote that it's fortunate that the world has come to the understanding that what will really protect our human beings are the vaccines.

The immune barrier is "our lifeline" against the pandemic, Zhang wrote, noting that although there are some disagreements and controversies in the world surrounding some vaccines, human beings belong to one family even when we don't agree.