84 million children vaccinated for the first time

China plans to fully vaccinate all children between the ages of three and eleven against Covid-19 by the end of the year. The National Health Commission recently announced that more than 84 million children in this age group had already received the first vaccination. The vaccination for children is voluntary, the education ministry said. A total of 160 million children are in the affected age group. According to the report, the rate of first-time vaccinations is over 50 percent.

In June, the Chinese regulatory authority had already approved the vaccines of the manufacturers Sinovac and Sinopharm for the age group between three and 17 years. Up to now, vaccinations of older children and adolescents have been prioritized. As a result, the vaccination rate for 12- to 17-year-olds is said to be 90 percent. However, following outbreaks of Corona in primary schools and kindergartens(China.Table reported), Beijing is now urging rapid vaccination of younger children as well. In a recent study in the Lancet journal, Sinopharm’s vaccine for children was found to be safe and well tolerated. niw