Image source: China Visual Group

BEIJING, July 23 (TMTPOST) – A senior health official said on Saturday that all incumbent senior party and government officials are fully vaccinated with China-made COVID-19 vaccines.

Ze Yixin, the Deputy Director of the National Health Commission of China, revealed the vaccination status of the senior Chinese officials during the Press Conference of the Joint Prevention and Control of the Mechanism of the State Council, which was held on a daily basis since the onset of the coronavirus in early 2020. 

“It highlights great emphasis placed by Chinese leaders on the work to stem the spread of COVIG-19 and their full trust in Chinese vaccines,” said Zeng.

Two inactivated vaccines developed by Sinopharm and one inactivated vaccine by Sinovac Biotech have been authorized by the World Health Organization for emergency use, along with vaccines by Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna Inc., AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson.

“National leaders of over 30 countries, including Turkey, Serbia, Cambodia, the Philippines, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Indonesia, Peru and Chile, have been inoculated with Chinese vaccines, which fully demonstrates the wide recognition of Chinese vaccines," said the senior health official.   

He added that Chinese vaccines had been approved for emergency use in over 100 countries, many of which recognized Chinese jabs as the only one for children.

89.6% of the Chinese over 60 years old are vaccinated with one jab; 84.7% of the Chinese over 60 years old are fully vaccinated and 67.3% of the age group are vaccinated with one booster, according to Zeng. 

Zeng said that the vaccination rate among the people over 60 years old has been increased significantly compared with last year but there is still room for improvement. He stressed that the two top priorities are to improve the vaccination rate of people aged 80 and above and to increase the percentage of the seniors jobbed with one booster among the seniors.

Wang Fusheng, the director of the Infectious Disease Department of the PLA General Hospital's Fifth Medical Center, said the COVID-19 vaccination would not cause leukemia or diabetes as online rumors claimed. 

Mi Feng, the spokesperson of the National Health Commission, told reporters during the press conference that the west Pacific region, where China is located, witnessed the fastest week-over-week growth - 37 percent - in new COVID-19 infections in the past week among all regions of the world.  Omicron variant B.A. 5 has spread to over 100 countries and regions, with higher infections, hospitalizations and serious cases. "China is faced with a mounting challenge to prevent the entry of overseas infections," Mi concluded.