China to vaccinate 50 million against COVID-19 by Chinese New Year is "an ambitious plan": U.S. media

Screenshot shows the news report published by Washington Post on Jan. 4, 2021.

China has started COVID-19 vaccination for key groups across the country and is plan to inoculate 50 million doses in one month, according to a news report published by Washington Post on Jan. 4, 2021.

On Dec. 15, China officially launched a nationwide vaccination program to inoculate people of key groups willing to take them. They will receive their first dose by the middle of January, with the second dose inoculated two to four weeks afterwards.

The key groups include including medical workers, custom officers, people engaged in handling imported cold-chain products, and people working in public transport and fresh markets, and people whose work require oversea travels.

The program plans to complete the vaccinations before the Chinese New Year to face the greater transmission risks over the winter and the world’s largest travel rush during the upcoming holiday. Last year, the holiday travel were affected by the COVID-19 outbreak, but it still witnessed around 1.5 billion passenger trips, half the normal number.

According to Washington Post, China’s plan to inoculate 50 million people with COVID-19 vaccines by Chinese New Year is “an ambitious goal,” as the number exceeds the population of California and Michigan combined.

For more information, please find the original article at https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/coronavirus-vaccine-china-lunar-new-year/2021/01/04/d9401354-4e34-11eb-a1f5-fdaf28cfca90_story.html