Mass vaccination tally reaches 24 m doses

China has administered more than 24 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines in its mass vaccination campaign, a health official said on Sunday.

Xu Wenbo, head of the National Institute for Viral Disease Control and Prevention under the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said the country started vaccination of key groups of individuals in mid-December and the vaccination campaign is progressing in an orderly way.

The country will adjust its vaccination plan based on its epidemic situation and progress on vaccine research and development, and supply of vaccines, Xu said at a news conference held by the State Council joint prevention and control mechanism against COVID-19.

Based on an initial report, the rate of side effects of COVID-19 vaccines is similar to that of vaccines that went into the market in 2019, he said.

The rate of serious side effects of COVID-19 vaccines is no higher than that of flu vaccines and slightly lower than vaccines that went into the market in 2019, he added.