“50 million vaccinations before the Lunar New Year”… China’s enormous vaccine waiting line

Many people are waiting for their turn to get the vaccine at the vaccination center in Beijing, China on the 3rd.[AFP=연합뉴스]

People lined up for vaccination outside the corona vaccination center in Beijing, China on the 4th.[AFP=연합뉴스]

On the 4th, many people inside and outside the corona vaccination center in Beijing, China waited for their vaccination sequence. People who lined up outside the inoculation center wore thick coats and put their hands in pockets due to the cold weather. The British Daily Mail reported on the 4th that “thousands of people lined up for vaccination in Beijing alone this day.” AFP news agency said, “I saw a person wearing two layers of masks (to prevent infection).” China is using gymnasiums and empty factories as inoculation stations.

China approved the urgent use of the synopam vaccine developed by the country on the 31st of last month and has been inoculated in earnest from the 1st. According to the Washington Post on the 4th, the Chinese authorities made an ambitious plan to vaccinate 50 million people before mid-February, the start of the Chinese New Year, the biggest holiday in China. Considering the fact that one person needs to be vaccinated twice every three weeks, it is said that they will receive up to 100 million doses over a period of just over a month.

People waiting for the shuttle bus to the vaccination center in Beijing, China on the 4th. [AFP=연합뉴스]

China began vaccination before even approving the use of synopam. Accordingly, the Chinese authorities said that the number of people who received the vaccine in China already reached 4.5 million as of the 31st of last month.

According to the statistics website’Our World in Data’, China shows that 0.31 people per 100 people get the vaccine. Given that China’s population is about 1,444.2 million, this means that 4.5 million people (about 0.31%) were vaccinated.

Vaccination is being done on the 5th in Shandong, China. [AFP=연합뉴스]

In China, the first candidates for vaccination are those who plan to study or work abroad, such as imported frozen food quarantine officers aged 18 to 59, transportation and logistics workers, public service workers, police, firefighters, and others. The Daily Mail said that unlike the UK, where the elderly are vaccinated first, China put workers first.

A food service worker in his 30s who came to get the vaccine said in an interview with the AFP news agency, “The employer made an appointment to get the vaccine, and I also want to get the vaccine to be relieved.”

People waiting to register for vaccination at a hospital in Shandong Province, China. [신화통신=연합뉴스]

One worker in the frozen food industry said, “In the past (due to concerns about infection through frozen food), I was afraid to work on this job, but I am lucky to get the vaccine first. I am really excited and reliable.”

Chinese authorities have announced that synopam’s infection-preventing effect is about 79%, but safety concerns continue to emerge as detailed clinical data have not been disclosed.

Reporter Lim Sun-young [email protected]