Over 73,000 receive first dose of jab in Beijing
A TOTAL of 73,537 people in 220 inoculation venues across Beijing have received the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine in two days since the city began administering the jab among specific groups of people with high infection risks on Friday.
No serious side effects have been observed among the vaccine receivers, Gao Xiaojun, a spokesperson for the municipal health commission told a press briefing yesterday.
The inoculation currently mainly covers nine groups of people aged 18 to 59 in Beijing. They include front-line customs inspectors of imported coldchain goods and personnel working in the overseas and domestic transportation sector.
A female staffer at a vaccination point in Beijing’s Xicheng District was found waiting for recipients at 7am yesterday.
“I’m responsible for ID verification and registration before they get the vaccine,” said the woman with face and hands turned red due to the cold. “Here we mainly serve
practitioners in cold-chain and catering industries. Everyone queued up in an orderly way and fully understood and supported our work.”
“Our company informed us of nine possible contraindications to receive the vaccine. Since I have none of them I came without hesitation,” said Xie Fei, who works at a Walmart store in the district.
“The i njec t ion
was
administered in minutes and I have been observed for half an hour. Currently I don’t have any discomfort,” said Xie, who came with about 30 colleagues. “I’m frequently exposed to imported cold-chain food at work, and the COVID-19 vaccination not only protects me but also customers.”
A total of 17 vaccination sites have been set up in Daxing District, covering about 100,000
people with high infection risks. Of them, about one-fifth do work related to the Beijing Daxing International Airport.
People receiving the jab will have the information updated on Beijing’s health code app, Gao noted, adding that those who have urgent plans to travel overseas can apply for COVID-19 inoculation at the community service center.