China to further boost COVID-19 vaccination among elderly

The Chinese government has released a work plan to ramp up vaccination among its elderly population to protect this vulnerable group against COVID-19.

The work plan issued on Tuesday by the State Council joint prevention and control mechanism against COVID-19 aims to leverage the protective effect of vaccination to reduce the risk of severe or critical illness and death among infected seniors.

The vaccination work should be spearheaded by the government and carried out through inter-department coordinations, and the accountability of local jurisdictions for the work should be ensured, according to the work plan.

It urged efforts to ensure precise research and management, further improve relevant services, and enhance supervision regarding vaccination work among the elderly.

It also called for efforts to accelerate the increase of vaccination rate among people aged 80 and older, and continue to raise that among people aged between 60 and 79.