Xi Jinping and other major leaders given local COVID-19 vaccine: Chinese authorities

China has been experiencing a steady surge in COVID-19 cases but there are still doubts among the people in the country when it comes to taking the vaccines. The vaccines given in China are made by Sinovac and Sinopharm as the country has not approved any foreign-made vaccine till now. In the recent past, there have been a number of reports on social media about people suffering from complications after taking the vaccine and that has led to more hesitancy. However, the authorities have tried to reassure the public about the safety of the homegrown vaccine as the National Heath Commission said on Saturday that major leaders of the Communist Party have also taken the same vaccines.

“China’s state and party leaders have all been vaccinated against Covid-19 with domestically made shots,” Zeng Yixin, deputy head of the National Health Commission, was quoted by Reuters.

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The term “state and party leaders” generally implies top officials at the top level of the government which includes both the president – Xi Jinping – and the premier - Li Keqiang.

This comes as a rare communication from the government which has faced a lot of criticism when it comes to transparency about the vaccine. In the briefing, Zeng did not say anything about the time when the government officials got vaccinated or the number of doses administered.

According to official data, China has 89.7 per cent vaccination rate with 56 per cent receiving a booster dose. However, when it comes to people above 80, the rate falls drastically to 61 per cent.

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