From July 11, people will have to show vaccination tests to enter a wide range of public places in the Chinese capital, such as cinemas, libraries, museums, gyms, stadiums and training centers, he said. on Wednesday a city health official at a press conference.
People who are “unfit” for vaccination will be exempt from the requirement, the official added, without clarifying how they can provide proof of the exemption.
Nor is it clear how people who received the vaccination abroad can meet the requirement. China’s health code systems, which are used to show vaccination tests, do not currently recognize foreign vaccines, and those that were inoculated abroad have not been able to register their vaccines.
Places with limited capacity or where reservations must be made must be given priority for admission to vaccinated customers.
Seniors visiting venues that offer activities specifically for seniors, such as recreation centers and game rooms, should be vaccinated as soon as possible, the official said.
The vaccine mandate comes when Beijing reported three cases of the BA.5.2 Omicron subvariant, which is highly transmissible and capable of escaping antibodies. An outbreak of the new subvariant has already closed the northwestern city of Xi’an, where entertainment, sports and religious venues have closed – and restaurants are limited to takeaway and delivery services. next wednesday.
Delay in the vaccination rate of the elderly
China remains an atypical point for its continued zero-Covid approach, which has seen cities across the country, including Beijing and Shanghai, recently put in total or partial blockade. The strategy, which is based on massive testing, quarantine and rapid blockages to eliminate any resurgence of the virus, has shattered economic activity.
Chinese authorities have stepped up efforts to increase vaccination rates, especially among the elderly population, as Omicron caused successive outbreaks this year.
In Beijing, residents must already show proof of a negative Covid test done within 72 hours to enter all public places.
The city has also demanded that people working in epidemic prevention and control, health care, public transportation, delivery and other high-risk sectors be fully vaccinated.
In January, 98% of Beijing’s more than 20 million residents were completely vaccinated, including 12 million people who received a booster vaccine, according to a government statement.
But the vaccination rate among the elderly is lower. In April, 80 percent of Beijing residents over the age of 60 had been vaccinated, state news agency Xinhua reported.
On Chinese social media, users quickly pointed out that Beijing’s vaccination mandate seemed to contradict national health authorities ’guidelines that vaccination should be voluntary.
“When did voluntary vaccination become mandatory?” a comment was asked on Weibo, China’s Twitter-like platform.
Last September, the National Health Commission said it was wrong for local governments to impose restrictions on the movement of unvaccinated people to speed up the vaccination campaign and that these policies needed to be corrected in a timely manner.
“Vaccination against Covid-19 should be based on the principles of informed consent and (be) voluntary,” Wu Liangyou, deputy head of the commission, told a news conference.