Guangdong has become the latest Chinese province to open its Covid-19 vaccination program to foreigners. From today, foreign nationals can apply to take one of the China-produced jabs as long as they meet age requirements (18-59), have no high-risk health conditions and are willing to sign consent forms.

Source: PAHO

Expats can apply and schedule an appointment via the Yuejiantong (粤健通) WeChat mini program. On arrival at their designated inoculation center, patients will be asked to show their passport and residence permit and sign a form of consent and a statement of personal reasonability for all risks associated with the vaccine. Expat workers signed up to China’s social security scheme can get the two-dose vaccine for free. Anyone else will be required to pay 100 RMB per dose.

In the meantime, however, China’s top infectious disease expert has admitted that the efficacy of domestic vaccines is low. Speaking at a conference in Chengdu this weekend, Gao Fu, director of the China Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said scientists were considering mixing the various Chinese vaccines together in an attempt to provide better protection to the public.

According to efficacy rates released out of Brazil, China’s Sinovac candidate is only 50.4 percent effective at preventing symptomatic Covid-19 infections. It also emerged last month that people in the UAE were being offered a third dose of the Sinopharm vaccine after antibody tests following two doses indicated they did not have sufficient protection against the virus.

China has so far approved five domestically made vaccine candidates for general or emergency use but has yet to publish full clinical trial data for any. Beijing has also failed to approve any foreign-made vaccines for use in China and is currently only resuming visa processing for foreigners from certain countries who have had a Chinese vaccine.

China has administered more than 161 million doses domestically and aims to fully inoculate 40 percent of the population by June and up to 70 percent by the end of the year. With very low Covid case numbers and a history of vaccine scandals in China, however, citizens are reportedly reluctant to get vaccinated.

Warning：The use of any news and articles published on eChinacities.com without written permission from eChinacities.com constitutes copyright infringement, and legal action can be taken.

Keywords: Chinese study covid antibodies