Conference urges expediting vaccinations for seniors and vulnerable groups

During a conference over the weekend, health officials and experts called for expediting COVID-19 vaccinations for the elderly and other vulnerable groups, while boosting research into the effects variants have on vaccines.

Official data shows that as of Sunday, China had administered over 3.42 billion COVID-19 vaccine doses, and fully vaccinated over 90 percent of the population.

Li Bin, vice-minister of the National Health Commission, said that the domestic immunization campaign has achieved uplifting results and should be advanced.

"More systematic research is needed on the immunogenicity and immunity persistence of vaccines and their protective effects in the long term," he said during the opening ceremony of the 2022 National Vaccines and Health Conference in Beijing on Saturday.

"Close attention should also be paid to studying the impact mutations have on existing vaccines and preparedness, and R&D should be initiated to create variant-specific vaccines," he added.

Shen Hongbing, deputy director of the National Administration of Disease Prevention and Control and head of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said that China has advanced in terms of mass vaccinations, including upgrading information registries and improvements to monitoring adverse reactions.

"In the future, rolling out effective health awareness programs, especially targeted at the elderly and other key groups, will be a focus," he said.

Gauden Galea, the World Health Organization Representative in China, said that the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the significance of vaccinations as a critical tool in the fight against disease.

"In the first year of rollouts, COVID-19 vaccines are estimated to have saved 19.8 million lives," he said, adding that the WHO calls on all countries that have not yet vaccinated 100 percent of its health workers, older adults and others at risk to get them vaccinated and boosted.

"This is the most effective way to save lives, prevent severe disease and disability, protect our systems, and drive a sustainable economic recovery," he said.