Beijing has entered a state of emergency after new Covid-19 cases were discovered around Christmas. Beijing has taken measures, including large-scale nucleic acid tests, since the recent cases came to light. Altogether 113 domestically transmitted confirmed Covid-19 cases were reported in China from December 1 to 30, up from around 60 in November. Authorities said the clustered outbreak in Beijing was basically under control, but that the virus battle is not over yet. Beijing reported 26 locally transmitted confirmed cases between December 18 and January 2. Hebei province reported five confirmed cases and 13 silent carriers over the weekend. On January 4, two cases were confirmed in Beijing, six in Liaoning province and one in Heilongjiang province. In Beijing, Tianjin and in at least five other cities, traces of the virus have also been detected on the outer packaging of auto parts for Daimler cars. 

Vaccination of the key groups of people has started in Beijing and other cities. The Chinese capital has set up 220 vaccination sites where more than 70,000 people have received shots so far. The city expects to complete the first vaccination round of nine key groups by February 12, when the Chinese Spring Festival starts. In the first phase, people between 18 and 59 years old in risk categories are vaccinated. Persons to be vaccinated include quarantine inspection workers at customs dealing with imported cold-chain products, porters at entry ports and transport workers. Individuals who plan to travel abroad for work and personal reasons, medical workers, and government officials are also included. Pregnant and breast-feeding women and those with underlying diseases such as severe allergies, diabetes and hypertension are not suited for vaccination now, according to the Chinese Center for Disease Control (CDC).

A vaccine developed by the Beijing National Biotec Group affiliated with Sinopharm received conditional market approval from the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) on December 31 for use by the general public. Vaccination will be free of charge. The interim results of its phase-3 clinical trials show 79.34% efficacy against Covid-19, meeting the standards of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the NMPA. It is an inactivated vaccine, which means the virus was grown in a lab and then killed. The vaccine had already been approved for use in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain on December 9 and 13 respectively. 

More than 4.5 million people have already been vaccinated in China, and in a plan released by Chinese health authorities, another 50 million people in high-risk groups will be inoculated by February 5. China’s inactivated vaccines are expected to be provided to the public as early as April. But even after vaccination, Chinese health authorities still suggest people maintain personal protective measures, including wearing masks, social distancing and washing hands frequently as no vaccine is 100% efficient. China will erect an immunity barrier against Covid-19 via high vaccination rates, Wang Huaqing, Chief Expert on the immunization program at the Chinese CDC, told a press conference. Accepting vaccination is not only a right, but also an obligation to prevent the epidemic, Wang noted. After 13 new Covid-19 cases were confirmed within two weeks, Beijing municipality has advised residents against traveling outside the city, and put caps on the number of people allowed in gatherings or public places. Some cities cancelled New Year celebrations.

Chinese vaccine producer Sinovac’s inactivated Covid-19 vaccine CoronaVac shows 91.25% efficacy in phase-3 clinical trials in Turkey, the Turkish Health Ministry announced. Turkey has signed a contract to buy 50 million doses Sinovac’s vaccine. Around 13,000 volunteers in Turkey participated in the phase-3 clinical trials. All the 50 million doses are scheduled to arrive in Turkey by the end of February. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has become the world’s first country to offer Chinese-developed Covid-19 vaccines to all citizens and residents for free as part of its efforts to achieve nationwide immunity against the coronavirus. 

A groundbreaking ceremony for a Covid-19 vaccine production base was held in late December at the Daxing Biomedical Industrial Base in Beijing. The vaccine will be based on the non-replicating viral vector using chimpanzee adenovirus, the first of its kind in China. The vaccine to be made at the base was developed by Professor Zhang Linqi of Tsinghua University and Professor Zhou Dongming of Tianjin Medical University, and it will be produced by Walvax Biotechnology Co. Mass production is expected to reach 200 million doses per year by mid-2021.

A thorough epidemiological investigation into the recent  cases of Covid-19 reported in Beijing’s Shunyi district,  showed that the sudden spike was caused by an imported case from Indonesia, a 28-year-old man who entered  Fujian province in late November and later traveled to Beijing’s Shunyi district. The man was sitting next to a confirmed patient from Indonesia on the flight from Indonesia to Fujian. He went to Beijing on December 10 after completing his 14-day quarantine in Fujian and testing negative. He later tested positive in a serum antibody test and negative in another nucleic acid test on December 26. He was admitted to Beijing Ditan Hospital, where his nucleic acid test turned positive on December 28.

According to the Global Times, Eurasian countries have shown great interest in mutual recognition of an international digital health code proposed by China to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. “Countries like Russia, Kazakhstan and Armenia have expressed a lot of interest in introducing such a mechanism to push forward global cooperation on the Covid-19 QR code from medical and information technology perspectives,” Ge Jian, Chairman of the General Council of the Eurasian Economic Cooperation Organization (EECO), told the Global Times. Ge said the QR code would act as a “digital passport” and may become a necessary step to revive cross-border personnel exchanges and the resumption of work in the post-Covid era, especially between countries establishing “green channels” or “fast lanes.” He emphasized the significance of such a mechanism, as travel bans and restrictions have greatly hindered global economic recovery. Countries including Australia, Japan and Singapore have all used tracking apps to trace peoples’ movements and potential exposure to Covid-19, but so far there is no mutual recognition mechanism for the apps. Meanwhile, China announced the suspension of flights to and from the UK due to a new coronavirus strain. “Considering the specific nature of the virus and its possible impact, in order to protect the health of Chinese and foreign personnel, China has suspended flights to and from the UK after a full assessment and taking into account the practices of other countries,” Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin announced.