Tianjin rolls out vaccination services for foreigners

Tianjin has taken multiple measures to speed up the coronavirus vaccination rollout for foreigners.

Special sessions for foreigners in coastal Binhai New Area and Nankai district, which have a large population of expats, are being held.

Zhang Liqun, head of Teda Hospital in Tianjin, said: "The hospital saw more than 1,000 foreigners receive the first dose on April 25, the first special session for foreigners in Binhai New Area."

"The hospital offers more than 20 doctors to provide English services in registration, consultations and vaccination and foreigners can get help from guidelines and signs in English."

The Teda Street Community, which has the major concentration of foreigners living in the Binhai New Area, has organized more than 20 volunteers to provide assistance in English, after the city began to launch services for foreigners earlier this month.

In a previous interview with Jinyun, a local media app, Sonia Marcel Agonz Alezcu Billos, a kindergarten teacher from Colombia who lives on Teda Street, said: "The whole process was very smooth and convenient. The medical personnel here are very nice and friendly. I do appreciate it."

In addition, since the city began offering vaccines to foreigners this month, local authorities found it took longer to register foreigners' visa information, as different countries' passports have different formats and proofreading takes longer, so "we have decided to begin registering all their information online one day ahead before arriving at the hospital," a staff member in registration services said.

According to Gu Qing, director of Tianjin's Municipal Center for Disease Control and Prevention, a total of 6.5 million local residents have received the vaccination to date, and 70 percent of local residents aged from 18-59 have received their first dose.

"More special sessions for foreigners will be held," he said.