BEIJING (Reuters) – China will provide COVID-19 vaccines for free as soon as they are available to the general public, government agencies said Saturday.
Zheng Zhongwei, an official for the National Health Commission, said that while the production and transportation of vaccines comes at a cost, the government can provide vaccines to individuals free of charge.
“Our people don’t have to pay a cent for the vaccine,” Zheng told a press conference in Beijing.
China approved its first vaccine for general use in late December. Three vaccines had already been given to limited groups at high risk of infection, including medical workers, through an emergency program.
The country extended its vaccination program to more key groups such as food and public transport workers in mid-December in an effort to stem a winter and spring revival.
Those vaccinations are also free for individuals, said Zeng Yixin, an official with the National Health Commission.
“We had discovered that some local governments had charged individual fees, we … demanded immediate rectification,” Zeng told the briefing, adding that local governments have since correctly implemented the free vaccination policy.
China has administered more than 9 million COVID-19 vaccine doses, Zeng said. Of that total, more than 7 million have been managed since mid-December.
Nearly 140,000 people in Hebei Province have taken COVID-19 vaccine doses, said Cui Gang, a National Health Commission official who is part of the Chinese vaccination schedule targeting specific groups at high risk of infection.
The province’s capital, Shijiazhuang, has emerged as a new hotbed for transmission. Local authorities have halted public transport around the city in an attempt to stop the virus from spreading.
“Right now, Hebei Province needs to accelerate progress and complete key vaccination groups as soon as possible,” Cui said.
Reporting by Yew Lun Tian, Roxanne Liu and Martin Pollard in Beijing; Written by Josh Horwitz; Adaptation by Lincoln Feast and Richard Pullin