China is now looking into vaccinating more of its younger population - particularly minors aged between 12 and 17 - to control the recent surge of the coronavirus. The focus on students will be part of the nation's ongoing vaccination campaign, which has been expanded due to the recent increase in new Covid-19 cases.
On Wednesday, China reported 71 new domestic Covid-19 cases - the highest daily case count since January. Authorities said the current vaccination campaign will now be expanded to include minors as part of the country's efforts to mitigate the spread of the more contagious Delta variant of the coronavirus.
As of this week, the Delta variant has been detected in at least 16 Chinese provinces and municipalities. Government data shows that more than 1.6 billion vaccine doses have been administered so far but there are no records to indicate the exact number of people that are fully vaccinated in China.
The expansion of the country's vaccination program was made after China's Ministry of Education sent a request to the government to provide vaccines for school children.
Local media reports said that some provinces have already begun giving out vaccine doses to students. Other provinces, including those with high case counts, are expected to immediately follow suit.
Some experts have expressed doubts on whether the government can achieve its goal of vaccinating 85% of the population by the end of the year even with minors now being included. Health authorities claim that the latest outbreak is now under control but it still needs to bolster its efforts to "plug the loopholes."
New outbreaks were first detected in Nanjiang in China's eastern Jiangsu province. It then spread to the tourist city of Zhangjiajie in the nation's central Hunan province. The virus is now present in at least a dozen major cities, including Beijing and Chongqing. Health experts said the virus may have been spread by domestic tourists.
Officials in Yangzhou, where 40 new cases were reported Wednesday, had decided to implement strict movement restrictions. Contact tracing of the outbreak in the city found that the virus may have originated from a 64-year-old woman who had traveled from Nanjiang. The woman arrived in Yangzhou to visit a popular parlor to play cards. Authorities said the woman had lied about her travel itinerary. She is now being investigated by police.
