BEIJING (Reuters) – China has vaccinated 82.5% of its population of 1.41 billion against COVID-19, a health official said on Saturday.
A total of 1.162 billion have received the required number of doses to complete vaccinations, Wu Liangyou, an official of the National Health Commission (NHC) told a news briefing, adding that 120.6 million had received a booster shot.
Despite the high national rate, vaccination coverage was patchy among the elderly, a vulnerable group facing a high risk of severe cases and death after infection.
Vaccination rates for those older than 80 were slightly above 40%, falling below 30% in some areas, said Zheng Zhongwei, another NHC official, in an interview with state broadcaster CCTV on Monday.
(Reporting by Roxanne Liu and Andrew Galbraith; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
