China’s domestic supply of the new coronavirus vaccine has been strained, with residents in some areas unable to get a second dose in time.
According to Reuters estimates, China averaged 3.3 million daily doses of vaccine in the seven days ending April 19, down from 4.2 million doses in the week ending April 12. This comparison suggests that the pace of mass vaccination campaigns in China is slowing.
Zheng Zhongwei, head of the vaccine research and development task force of the State Council’s joint prevention and control mechanism, spoke about the current supply of vaccines in China in an interview with the Global Times, a tabloid owned by the Communist Party’s People’s Daily, on April 20 on the sidelines of the Boao Forum annual meeting. Zheng Zhongwei said, “At present, the supply of domestic vaccines is relatively tight, but the tight supply of vaccines will be significantly eased in May, especially after June.”
However, in the interview reported by Circle Time, Zheng Zhongwei did not say how serious the tight supply of vaccines was, nor did he say which areas were experiencing tight supply and how long people in some areas would have to wait before they could receive a second dose.
Chinese official media Xinhua reported that Mi Feng, spokesman for China’s National Health and Wellness Commission, revealed at a press conference on Wednesday (April 21) that up to now, China has reported a cumulative total of more than 200 million doses of the new crown vaccine nationwide. China’s National Health and Wellness Commission stipulates that the interval between the first and second doses of inactivated vaccines is three weeks to eight weeks. The vaccines currently promoted for use in China are mainly inactivated vaccines. China’s goal is to vaccinate 40 percent of the population by summer.
Mi Feng said the country has fully considered the demand for the second dose of the vaccine as scheduled when deploying the supply of vaccines for each province. He said localities should make accurate deployment to ensure that the second dose is completed within eight weeks to avoid a situation where the top shot is not followed by the next one.
Cui Gang, a second-level inspector of the CDC Bureau of China’s National Health Commission, told the same conference that China’s domestic vaccination for the new crown is focused around two main priorities: first, to ensure large and medium-sized cities, port cities with high risk of epidemic, etc.; and second, to ensure cold chain practitioners, medical personnel and personnel of institutions, enterprises and institutions, etc. He said, “At present, the vaccination of key areas and key populations is generally progressing smoothly.”
Many Chinese are reportedly worried or less motivated to get vaccinated because of the low efficiency and lack of information about China’s domestic vaccines. Some regions have even held “vaccination sweepstakes” to encourage people to get vaccinated.
As China prioritizes the supply of vaccines to key provinces, major cities such as Beijing and Shanghai have expanded vaccination efforts to include foreigners, with some cities outpacing the national average. Reuters reports that the Chinese capital, Beijing, has vaccinated more than half of its 21.5 million people.
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