COVID-19: China prioritises frontline workers, says no need to vaccinate entire population

The director of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Gao Fu, reportedly said that there is no need to vaccinate the entire population against coronavirus. According to a local Chinese news agency, Gao, while speaking at a vaccine summit, said that since the first wave of COVID-19 appeared in Wuhan, China has already survived the impact of the virus several times. He pointed to the factors such as cost and potential side effects and added that the question of vaccinating the public was one of balancing ‘risks and benefits’. 

As Beijing is planning to prioritise frontline workers and high-risk populations, the top Chinese official said that there isn’t currently a need for mass vaccination at this stage. However, he also added that it can change if another serious outbreak takes place. As per reports, Gao further went on to cite a brief outbreak as evidence of China’s effective containment measures. 

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He reportedly said that the facts have proven that the country has ‘several magic weapons to respond to the epidemic’. Gao reportedly added that any potential vaccine would instead be prioritised for those on the front lines, including medical workers, Chinese nationals working overseas in virus hotspots, and people working in dense, high-risk environments like restaurants, schools or cleaning services. 

Gao warns of ‘poor side-effects’ 

Since there has not been any COVID-19 vaccine ever, the health official reportedly warned that vaccine development is still in progress, with ‘risks of poor side-effects’. According to Global Times, Gao said that the vaccine may induce ADE (antibody-dependent enhancement) effects as any other firsts that the scientists will possibly face. He added that scientific research is very riotous progress and people need to give scientists a bit more time.

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Meanwhile, China recently has been reporting a low number of confirmed cases. There had been few clusters in the northeastern Jilin province and an outbreak in Beijing and Xinjiang, however, they were met with immediate lockdown measures and mass testing and the outbreak was contained within a few weeks.

Despite Gao’s comments, China has also been one of the biggest players in the global race to develop a COVID-19 vaccine. It has already pushed forward some vaccines before their efficiency was fully proven. Back in June, the country had approved an experimental vaccine for use by its military and since July, China has been using the different experimental vaccine on people who work in ‘high risk’ jobs. Neither vaccine has so far completed Phase 3 trials. 

(Image: Rep/Unsplash) 

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