Mass vaccinations begin as authorities track new COVID-19 cases

As the nation is busy fighting recent COVID-19 outbreaks, mass vaccinations have kicked off in many parts of the country.

Since Friday, Beijing's 220 health centers have already vaccinated 73,537 people with no major side effects detected, said Gao Xiaojun, a spokesman for the Beijing Health Commission at a news conference on Sunday.

As required by the national health authority, the first batch of vaccinations are being given to nine key groups including inspection workers handling imported cold-chain products, workers at ports of entry and those in the transportation sector. Medical and government department workers and those needing to travel abroad are also included.

Currently, health centers do not accept reservations for individual vaccinations. Individuals going abroad for personal reasons can apply for the shot at their residential community service centers.

Both Beijing and Shandong province plan to complete the first batch of vaccinations before the Lunar New Year, which falls on Feb 12 this year.

Nationwide, imported and domestic infections have been sporadic.

Beijing reported one domestic case－an 8-month-old baby girl－on Saturday. The infant is being treated at Ditan Hospital and all of her eight close contacts are under medical observation.

Both her mother and grandmother were previously reported as confirmed local cases in Shunyi district, where a cluster of cases has emerged from the recent outbreak in Beijing.

An imported B.1.1.7 viral mutation case was reported over the weekend in Guangdong province.

The mutation carried by a person who traveled from the United Kingdom is highly similar to the gene sequence of the mutated virus recently seen in the UK, said the local branch of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

The Chinese mainland first detected the highly contagious variant in a woman who was tested upon arrival at a Shanghai airport on Dec 14 after flying in from the UK.

Regarding the viral mutation, Wang Huaqing, a chief researcher at the center, said on Sunday that "the World Health Organization is watching the issue closely".

Pang Xinghuo, deputy director of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention in Beijing, said vaccine recipients should still follow COVID-19 preventive measures such as wearing face masks and practicing social distancing.

She added that only those aged between 18 and 59 can take the vaccine now. "Those who are pregnant or breastfeeding should not take the vaccinations," she said.

The health commission of Dalian, Liaoning province, said on Sunday that the latest COVID-19 outbreak in the city was traced to five dockworkers unloading imported cold-chain cargo from a Russian ship.

Full virus gene sequencing results showed the virus is highly homologous with a strain circulating in Russia in November and has strong genetic correlation, the authority said.

Moreover, a super spreading event involving direct and indirect transmissions was detected in outbreak clusters in the Chinese port city.

Since the outbreak emerged on Dec 15, Dalian reported 48 confirmed cases and 30 asymptomatic cases as of Saturday.

The National Health Commission said on Sunday that the Chinese mainland reported eight local cases on Saturday, with four in Heilongjiang province, two in Liaoning province and one each in Beijing and Hebei province.

Zhang Xiaomin in Dalian contributed to this story.

Contact the writers at dujuan@chinadaily.com.cn