About 91 percent of students aged 12 to 17 have received two doses of COVID19 vaccines in China, said a notice from China’s Ministry of Education (MOE) on Wednesday.
Although the data show a relatively positive vaccination status among students, the MOE continues to show caution, encouraging students and teachers to stay put during the upcoming Mid-Autumn and National Day holidays.
The two-dose vaccination rate of teachers and students over 18 years old have exceeded 95 percent, said the ministry.
The MOE has also urged schools to strengthen coronavirus prevention and control work on campus, especially during the two national holidays of the Mid-Autumn Festival and the National Day coming.
“We encourage everyone to stay in the area for the holidays if there is no essential need to leave,” said Wang Defeng, an official at the MOE.
In the notice, the Ministry said the teachers and students should be further informed and guided about vaccination, but the vaccination status should never be used as a restriction on enrollment
Schools are also encouraged to conduct nucleic acid testing on a regular or random basis for related personnel, which can help early detection of the spread of the virus.
The notice came after the National Health Commission on Monday said COVID-19 was detected spreading at a primary school in Putian, East China’s Fujian Province, for 10 days before the first case was identified in the country’s fresh flare-up.
At least 20 children younger than 12 years old were found to have been infected amid the nation’s first school-centered COVID-19 resurgence.
The Chinese mainland reported 50 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, all from Fujian Province. It is the second day that the country has seen cases reaching 50 amid the latest resurgence that started on Friday in Putian.
Multiple cities in Fujian, such as Quanzhou and Fuzhou, have either suspended primary schools and kindergartens or changed classes offline to online.
A medical worker administers a dose of COVID-19 vaccine to a girl student at the Hangtian Campus of the Beijing Yuying School in Beijing, capital of China, on Aug. 21, 2021.(Xinhua)
