Shanghai resumes vaccination drive amid latest outbreak

Shanghai has been taking steps to increase the COVID-19 vaccination rate among residents aged 60 and above.

For example, community health centers, temporary vaccination sites and mobile vaccination vehicles have resumed operations and given priority to vaccinating the elderly living in suburban areas with low COVID-19 exposure risks.

The Shihua Community Health Center in the city's suburban Jinshan district was among the first to see vaccinations resume. More than 60 percent of the district's population is made up of senior citizens aged 60 and above.

"We have set up a green channel for seniors to get vaccinated in the center. Each vaccination takes around five minutes," said Mo Xuefeng, deputy director of the health center.

For those who cannot make to the center, local health authorities have established temporary vaccination sites in residential areas.

According to the Jinshan district health commission, medical professionals had administered 7,598 COVID-19 vaccine shots in the district between April 19 and 25.

In Nanqiao town, Fengxian district, more than 1,000 residents aged 60 and above have also received their vaccine shots since April 19. Here, three shuttle buses have been mobilized to transport the seniors from their homes to the community health centers for the vaccinations. Mobile vaccination sites have also been set up within communities that are under lockdown. To date, more than 60 percent of residents aged 60 and above in the Fengxian district have been vaccinated.

Shanghai has reported more than 400,000 COVID-19 infections during the current outbreak which started in early March. Close to 20 percent of those infected are aged 60 and above, while 2 percent are aged 80 and above, said Sun Xiaodong, deputy head of the Shanghai Center for Disease Control and Prevention on April 20.

However, the vaccination rate of people aged 60 and above in Shanghai currently stands at just 62 percent, much lower than the national average of 80.68 percent. The percentage of those who had received their booster shot is also much lower — 38 percent in Shanghai compared with the national average of around 57 percent.

Sun explained that both domestic and foreign studies have shown that the effectiveness of the vaccine in preventing severe, critical, and fatal outcomes was very obvious among seniors who received full vaccination and the booster dose, which stands at over 70 and 90 percent respectively.

The municipal health commission has reminded elderly residents with no existing health conditions to get fully vaccinated once the lockdown of their compounds is lifted as doing so will significantly reduce the risk of them developing severe illness or dying should they become infected with the virus.

Tao Jianxiu, director of the disease control and prevention department at the Jinshan Health Commission, noted that some senior citizens still fear the potential side effects of the vaccine.

The vaccination of senior citizens has also resumed in Chongming district and Sijing town in Songjiang district.