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Beijing begins Covid booster shots four months ahead of Winter Olympics
Beijing rolled out its booster campaign earlier this week and shots will be administered to those taking part or organising the Olympics. In addition, the Chinese capital will administer booster shots to people aged 18 and above who have been fully vaccinated and belong to at-risk groups.
Authorities in China have started offering booster shots against the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) in Beijing and surrounding regions, four months before the capital city hosts the Winter Olympics, local media reports said.
Beijing rolled out its booster campaign earlier this week and shots will be administered to those taking part or organising the Olympics. In addition, the Chinese capital will administer booster shots to people aged 18 and above who have been fully vaccinated and belong to at-risk groups.
The Winter Olympics will begin on February 4 next year. Only residents from China will be allowed in the stands. The government will also mandate a three-week quarantine upon arrival for athletes who are not fully inoculated with vaccines approved by the World Health Organisation (WHO) or other national authorities, according to news agency Bloomberg.
Authorities will enact a “closed-loop” which will limit the movement of participants to games venues and other related facilities, with designated transport. A book detailing virus countermeasures for the games might be released soon, Bloomberg further reported.
Till now, Beijing has administered both vaccine doses to over 97% of its adult population. The Chinese capital, along with the whole country, has been adhering to a relentless zero-Covid approach with stringent border closures and targeted lockdowns.
China, the country from where the Covid-19 pandemic originated, has for far reported 96,665 cases, 4,636 deaths, 91,511 recoveries and 518 active cases due to the viral disease. On Thursday, the country reported 43 new cases of which 28 were locally transmitted.
In attempts to get rid of a new outbreak linked to a group of tourists, authorities in China have closed schools, cancelled hundreds of flights and have ramped up mass testing.
The new outbreak is traced to an elderly couple who were in a group of other tourists, according to AFP. They had started their trip in Shanghai before going to Xi'an, Gansu province and Inner Mongolia. Dozens of infections have since been linked to their journey, with close contacts in five provinces and regions, including Beijing.
(With inputs from agencies)
