Beijing presses forward with vaccine program

Beijing has completed vaccinations for the nine key groups of individuals in an effort that began at on Jan 1, a senior city official said at a news conference on Tuesday.

Pang Xinghuo, deputy head of the Beijing Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said the vaccination work will continue during the Chinese Lunar New Year holiday from Feb 11 to 17.

"Every district should keep at least one vaccination center open during the holiday," she said.

The vaccination effort has included customs inspectors dealing with imported cold food products, workers at entry ports and workers in the international and domestic transportation industries. Delivery workers, people who travel abroad for work or personal reasons, medical workers and government department workers were also included.

Also in Beijing, Ronghui residential community in the city's Fengtai district was downgraded to low-risk on Tuesday, as there has been no new confirmed COVID-19 case for 14 successive days, Pang said.

The recent cluster of COVID-19 cases broke out in the residential community in mid-January, affecting several families, but infections have been contained, she said.