|
 "They wouldn't roll out something that could backfire on them," he
said. "I feel like there's too many eyeballs on this for the Chinese
to not be relatively sure."
Sunwoo is part of China's expanding effort to get its home-grown
vaccines to key workers, including restaurant workers like him, and
increasingly to the general public.
China is stepping up its vaccinations as several countries including
Brazil, Indonesia and Turkey begin mass vaccination programmes using
its vaccines.
Inconsistent data disclosures have raised concern that Chinese
vaccines are not subject to the same public scrutiny as U.S. and
European ones.
China's domestic effort is intensifying amid a spate of new
outbreaks and with a goal of vaccinating nine key groups before the
travel-heavy Lunar New Year in February.
China has approved three vaccines for emergency use but only one for
the general public. A fourth is only being used by the military.
People aged 60 and over will not get a shot until the safety is
confirmed. The same goes for children. In many countries, older
people, who are more vulnerable to serious illness from COVID-19,
are at the front of the vaccine queue.
Chinese authorities said on Wednesday 15 million vaccine doses had
been delivered, enough for just over 1% of the population.
In particular, the campaign has accelerated in the capital, Beijing,
according to guidelines published by various authorities. One of the
city's biggest districts said this week it had begun vaccinating the
general population.
Vaccinated delivery personnel, food workers, educators and medical
workers told Reuters of a broad and intensifying effort in what
could be the world's largest COVID-19 vaccine campaign.
"If I didn't get the vaccine, I couldn't work. The reality is
simple", said a Beijing food delivery worker who was among thousands
of couriers vaccinated early this month.
"No one will refuse it," said the worker, declining to give his name
because he is not authorised by his company to discuss the
vaccinations.
HOLIDAY RUSH
Beijing has not announced phases for the campaign beyond the focus
on key workers.
[to top of second column] |
 Guidelines vary, though most
large cities have begun to invite people from
specific groups including medical workers,
couriers, customs staff and cleaners.
The city of Beijing has set the tightest
deadlines, with plans to vaccinate all key
workers before the Lunar New Year, which begins
on Feb. 12. Authorities and
those who have received vaccines say cities are not adhering
strictly to the designated groups, which allows municipalities and
districts to set their own priorities.
Beijing's Chaoyang district said this week it had vaccinated about
164,000 people outside the key groups.
An official from Shanghai's Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention said on Tuesday that the city had opened vaccine booking
for people beyond key groups, including those who plan to go abroad.
Just under 50% of Shanghai's 1.77 million designated key workers had
volunteered to get a shot.
"If the country has rolled out this vaccine for everyone, there must
be some degree of safety that's guaranteed," said Yi Hongjun, a
software researcher at automaker SAIC, who got an initial dose of a
vaccine made by Sinovac on Tuesday.
Authorities in several major cities including Beijing and Shanghai
say supplies are ample.
A Shanghai school administrator, who declined to be identified, said
in December staff were given 48 hours to decide if they would take a
vaccine made by Sinopharm, which has yet to pass Phase III trials
but has been approved in China for emergency use.
An SAIC worker surnamed Huang who received the vaccine in Shanghai
on Tuesday said the process was smooth.
"Once we're vaccinated, we can have peace of mind," she said.
(Reporting by Cate Cadell in Beijing, Brenda Goh, David Stanway and
Engen Tham in Shanghai; Editing by Robert Birsel)
[© 2021 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2021 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content |
