Applications to get COVID-19 vaccination rising

By Liu Kun in Wuhan and Zhao Ruixue in Jinan | chinadaily.com.cn | Updated: 2020-12-30 16:54

Share - WeChat

Wu Ni takes a trial vaccine shot in Wuhan, Hubei province, during the height of the COVID-19 epidemic in March. She was one of the first volunteers in a clinical trial for a COVID-19 vaccine in China. [Photo by ZHU XINGXIN/CHINA DAILY]

Policies released by more domestic cities on COVID-19 vaccination are bringing hope to those who need protection.

"I hope to get inoculated with the COVID-19 vaccine as soon as possible. Then I don't need to present a nucleic acid test each time I get a new job," said a 43-year-old housekeeping service attendant surnamed Wang in Wuhan city, Central China's Hubei province.

The vaccination, available at 48 designated clinics in 15 districts in Wuhan, has set a target on some key groups of people aged between 18 and 59, including those who work in the sectors of food storage and transportation, quarantine facilities and border inspection, as well as those who need to work in countries and regions with high or medium risks of getting infected by COVID-19, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention in Wuhan.

"I want to take the vaccine very much to keep me safe from infection risks. But I haven't been informed when I can apply for the vaccine," said the 36-year-old Li, who works in a community in Wuhan.

In addition to Wuhan, several provinces, including East China's Zhejiang and Shandong, South China's Guangdong and Southwest China's Sichuan, as well as the cities of Shanghai and Shenzhen, have released policies on COVID-19 vaccination, targeting similar groups as Wuhan.

Over 500,000 people in China have been inoculated with COVID-19 vaccines since July, the Beijing-based newspaper Health Times reported on Wednesday.

In Jinan Hospital, one of the two designated hospitals for COVID-19 vaccination in Jinan, Shandong province, many people were applying for vaccination, keeping staff busy with taking appointment calls all day long on Tuesday.

Those receiving the vaccine need to take two shots with an interval of four weeks between injections.

Xia Xiaobei (pseudonym as requested), 38, who works at a central State-owned enterprise, took the two shots in September and October in an emergency vaccination program in Wuhan because part of his job involves working abroad.

"No special reactions occurred after I took the vaccines. A few of my colleagues felt a little pain and light fever, but they recovered totally in one or two days," he said.