Facing the double threats of flu and COVID-19 in the upcoming autumn, some places in China have issued regulations that those who did not get vaccinated will be held responsible if they cause an infection incident. Some places have banned unvaccinated people from entering public places.
Health authority in Nanchang, Central China’s Jiangxi Province, issued an announcement on Wednesday requiring all personnel working in local governmental departments, state-owned companies and institutes as well as members of the Communist Party of China to get vaccinated against COVID-19 by the end of August, unless the person has a disease that prevents them from doing so.
Those who are unvaccinated will not be allowed to attend meetings and trainings or go on business trips to other provinces. And they will be held responsible if they cause any infection flare-ups.
Many other places have issued similar regulations recently, such as Hefei, Huaibei and Chizhou in East China’s Anhui Province.
Authority in Shiyan, Central China’s Hubei Province, on Tuesday urged local adults to get vaccinated as soon as possible and said credit information of those who did not get vaccinated without proper reasons would be affected.
Authorities in Ezhou, Hubei, on Sunday said not only adults, but also students aged 12-17, should get vaccinated except for those who cannot get COVID-19 vaccines due to certain diseases.
Earlier, authorities in Guigang and Laibin in South China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region banned local people who are unvaccinated from entering key public places under anti-epidemic management such as schools, medical institutes and nursing homes.
While these places are making efforts to enhance local herd immunity, some other places, where the vaccination rate is already high, stressed that the principle of voluntariness for vaccination of students aged 12-17 given the new semester that is going to start in September.
Chen Feng, an education official in East China’s Zhejiang Province, said Wednesday that autumn semester will kick off as scheduled in the province. Local elementary and middle schools should force students aged 12-17 to get vaccines without their families’ consent.
But Chen said all schools in the province would thoroughly check the health situation of students and teachers and their travel history during the summer holidays.
According to Chen, so far, no confirmed COVID-19 cases have been discovered in the province’s education system. And vaccination rate among teachers, college students and adolescents aged 12-17 has reached 90.56 percent, 91.12 percent and 47.4 percent, respectively.
A student receives a dose of COVID-19 vaccine at a vaccination point in Danzhai County, southwest China’s Guizhou Province, Aug. 12, 2021. China is orderly propelling its vaccination program among minors aged between 12 and 17, on the premise of ensuring safety.Photo:Xinhua
