China says no need to vaccinate entire population against Covid-19 at this stage, only frontline wor [View all]
Source: CNN
(CNN)Not everyone in China will need to get vaccinated against Covid-19, according to the country's top medical official, as Beijing looks to prioritize frontline workers and high-risk populations in a move that underscores rising confidence among policy-makers of their ability to contain the virus.
"Since the first wave of Covid-19 appeared in Wuhan, China has already survived the impact of Covid-19 several times," Gao Fu, director of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said at a vaccine summit in the city of Shenzhen on Saturday, according to state-run news agency China News Service.
The question of vaccinating the public was one of balancing "risks and benefits," he added, pointing to factors like cost and potential side effects. There isn't currently a need for mass vaccination at this stage -- though that could change if another serious outbreak takes place, Gao said.
The policy marks China apart from many Western governments, most notably Australia, that have outlined plans to introduce mass public vaccination drives.
Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/14/asia/china-covid-vaccine-gao-fu-intl-hnk/index.html
Given China's population and density, it is surprising that China is only planning a limited roll out of its early vaccines to frontline health care workers. You would think that if there is an outbreak that it would tougher to lock things down.
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