As China is speeding up its vaccination campaign, notices are popping up at the entrances to residential communities, shops and restaurants, showing the inoculation rate of the inhabitants or employees. The municipality of Beijing is now encouraging all its residents, especially the elderly, to get vaccinated in order to reach a 70% inoculation rate, the threshold for herd immunity, by May. At present, Beijing has already vaccinated more than 50% of the population. Some of the communities had rates of more than 80% and got a green sign and a “thank-you note,” while the ones with rates of 40% to 80% got a yellow sign. Those with rates of less than 40% got a red sign. Feng Duojia, President of the China Vaccine Industry Association, told the Global Times that China is expected to vaccinate 70% of its population by the end of 2021 to achieve herd immunity.

China and its partners that are promoting regional health code recognition can be pathfinders for a global vaccine passport program in the future, Chinese experts said, adding that although the World Health Organization (WHO) had reservations over vaccine passports, China’s efforts do not conflict with the WHO’s stance. China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that China and South Korea will coordinate and establish a mechanism for the mutual recognition of their health codes, in a move that would help further normalize business and tourism. WHO Spokeswoman Margaret Harris told a press conference that “we as the WHO are saying at this stage we would not like to see the vaccination passport as a requirement for entry or exit, because we are not certain at this stage that the vaccine prevents transmission.” Harris also mentioned possible discrimination against people who are not able to get a vaccine. But Tao Lina, a Shanghai-based vaccine expert, said that “vaccinated people are no longer vulnerable and should be treated differently from those who are not vaccinated.” Some airlines have been making preparations for the introduction of vaccine passports. Qatar Airways last week operated the world’s first flight carrying only vaccinated crew and passengers, with passengers also being served by fully vaccinated staff at check-in. Separately, more than 20 airlines have announced trials of the IATA Travel Pass.

China will gradually phase out tax and fee reduction policies that were launched last year to mitigate the effects of the Covid-19 epidemic on the economy, Assistant Finance Minister Ou Wenhan said. The country is set to extend some policies such as value-added tax (VAT) relief for small-scale taxpayers to maintain necessary support for the economy’s recovery, Ou told a press conference, adding that interim contingency policies to prevent infection and ensure supplies would be discontinued as they are due to expire. The economic recovery is expected to gain traction this year, with the IMF raising China’s growth projection to 8.4% in 2021, up 0.3 percentage points from the fund’s January forecast.

After the National Health Commission (NHC) discovered that in some regions in China vaccination has been made compulsory for all residents that meet the requirements, the Commission announced that such measures are not allowed and it would take action to rectify the situation. Wu Liangyou, Deputy Director of the Commission’s Disease Prevention and Control Bureau, said that “people who are eligible for Covid-19 vaccines should receive them according to their own will”.

Gao Fu, Director of the Chinese Center of Disease Control (China CDC) refuted claims by some media outlets and overseas social media that he “admitted” Chinese Covid-19 vaccines have a low protection rate, saying that “it was a complete misunderstanding.” As scientists around the world are discussing vaccine efficacy, he offered a scientific vision: that to improve the efficacy, adjustment of vaccination procedures and sequential inoculation of different types of vaccines might be options. “The protection rates of all vaccines in the world are sometimes high, and sometimes low. How to improve their efficacy is a question that needs to be considered by scientists around the world,” Gao said. “In this regard, I suggest that we can consider adjusting the vaccination process, such as the number of doses and intervals and adopting sequential vaccination with different types of vaccines.” 

Zheng Zhongwei, the National Health Commission official who heads China’s Covid-19 vaccine development task force, said that clinical trials show that all domestic vaccines can pre?vent severe cases and deaths at nearly 100%. Worldwide, nearly 270 Covid-19 vaccine candidates are in different stages of development, and 21 of them have completed or are under?going the third and late stage of human trials. China has given conditional approval to four domestically made vaccines and granted emergency use approval to one domestic candidate. China has so far administered more than 167 mil?lion doses of Covid-19 vaccines, with around 27.5 million doses given in the past week. 

This overview is based on reporting by the China Daily, Shanghai Daily and Global Times.