Vaccination action plan to target elderly

China rolled out an action plan on Tuesday to speed up COVID-19 immunization of the elderly — especially those aged 80 and above — as vaccinations in the highly vulnerable group lag behind the general population.

The plan, released by the State Council's Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism, adjusts the booster vaccination protocol, and requires localities to extensively survey senior populations and ramp up services and awareness campaigns.

Xia Gang, a National Administration of Disease Prevention and Control official, said that COVID vaccines have demonstrated good protection against severe illness and death.