Guaranteeing access to medicines, medical services now top priority

The priority of COVID control work has now shifted from prevention to guaranteeing people's access to medical services and medication amid surging demand, Chinese health authorities said on Thursday.

As the country keeps optimizing its pandemic-control measures, demand for medical services and COVID-related medicines has soared astronomically.

Grassroots communities and rural areas are the weakest in medical and health services, and family doctors are now the gatekeepers of public health, according to Mi Feng, a spokesman for the National Health Commission.

"We should allocate medical resources according to the pandemic situation to further improve the efficiency and quality of services," Mi said.

China is taking active steps to address the shortage of medical personnel. If necessary, staff who have retired in the past five years will be rehired, and the use of family doctors will be increased to guarantee medical resources, the NHC added.

Meanwhile, production of COVID-related medicines, antigen detection reagents, vaccines and masks will be ramped up to meet rising demand, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said on Wednesday.

Forty-two COVID-19 antigen detection reagents have currently been approved for production, according to the National Medical Products Administration.