Bloomberg:

What is the biggest lesson you've learned from the mistakes that were made in Shanghai in containing the outbreak? And separately on vaccination, why doesn't China compel elderly people to get vaccinated like you have for students and other population groups? What is an acceptable vaccination rate for those over 80 that China would be comfortable opening up under? Thank you.

Li Bin:

Thank you for your two questions. We invite Mr. Lei to answer the question about the vaccination of the elderly and Mr. Liang to answer the question about what lessons Beijing should draw in epidemic prevention and control.

Lei Zhenglong:

Thank you for your question. In accordance with the arrangements of State Council's inter-agency task force, the NHC has continued to guide local governments to push forward with vaccination in a proactive and well-considered way. As of April 28, 3.340711 billion COVID-19 vaccine doses had been administered across the Chinese mainland. A total of 1.284935 billion people had been vaccinated, and 1.249688 billion had been fully vaccinated, accounting for 91.14% and 88.64% of the total population, respectively. A total of 750.189 million people had got a booster shot, among whom 29.967 million had got sequential booster jabs. About 227.088 million people aged 60 and above had been vaccinated, and 215.155 million had been fully vaccinated, registering 86.01% and 81.49% of the age group, respectively. A total of 160.425 million people in the group had got a booster shot.

So far, the overall work of vaccination has been going smoothly. We are taking orderly steps to administer booster shots, and the vaccination coverage rate of senior citizens has been gradually increasing. Recently, the NHC has made further arrangements to mobilize senior citizens to get vaccination shots. 

First, we will see that local governments fulfill their responsibilities. Local governments must fully recognize the significance and urgency of the need for the elderly to get vaccinated. The actual situation of the senior population within their jurisdictions should be checked proactively so that further arrangements for their vaccination can be implemented and their safety can be ensured.

Second, we will give full play to the role of departments responsible for the welfare of the elderly people. To further increase the vaccination coverage rate of the elderly group, the office of the China National Committee on Aging has specifically issued a notice in advance on better promoting the vaccination among the elderly group. The notice has guided local governments to give full play to the role of social organizations related to the work for the elderly group and encouraged all localities to work together to ensure the safe and convenient conditions of the vaccination for the elderly. 

Third, we will intensify our efforts on publicity and mobilization. In combination with the China Prophylactic Vaccination Day activities on April 25 this year, we guided all localities to adjust measures in accordance with their specific local conditions to carry out further publicity on COVID-19 vaccination to encourage more people to get vaccinated. In addition, various other platforms, including radio, television, newspapers, open letters from the government and communities, and new media and We-media, were also used to promote vaccination in the communities, rural areas, and nursing homes.

Getting vaccinated and personal protection measures are effective means for COVID-19 prevention and control. Therefore, I also hope that our media friends will support and carry out more publicity activities about the popularization of vaccination. We will further increase the vaccination coverage rate of key groups and senior citizens with our joint efforts. In this way, we will offer more support to the epidemic prevention and control efforts. Thank you.

Liang Wannian:

Let me answer the second question. The epidemic strain of the outbreaks in Beijing and Shanghai is the Omicron variant. Both cities are super-large, each with a population of 20 million or more. The Omicron variant has the characteristics of rapid spread and strong concealment. For these megacities, this has increased a lot of difficulties in fighting COVID-19 outbreaks. And this has put forward higher demands in terms of organization and implementation and other aspects such as related nucleic acid testing capabilities and medical treatment capabilities. Therefore, it is a test of these megacities' governance systems and governance capacity to a certain extent.

Speaking from the perspective of the epidemic situation experienced in Shanghai and that Beijing is also fighting the sporadic COVID-19 epidemic, I think there are a few points that can be enlightening. First, Omicron spreads too fast and is too concealed, so we must improve the previous approaches to fight the original strain of the novel coronavirus and its Alpha, Beta, and Delta variants. The general rule is to move fast. The virus spreads quickly, so the speed of our moves, and the intensity and speed of our work, have to be faster and race against time to fight this virus. This is a significant change.

Second, we still have to build our confidence. Some cities in China, such as Shenzhen in Guangdong province, Changchun in Jilin province, Tianjin, etc., have all experienced the outbreak of the Omicron. The practice has proved that we can effectively control the spread of the epidemic by adopting effective strategies and tactics to achieve dynamic zero-COVID, so we must firmly establish this confidence. We have the ability, the foundation, and the conditions to defeat the epidemic and spread caused by the Omicron. As you can see, significant progress has been made in both Shanghai and Beijing.

Third, we must consider that the most vulnerable groups of this variant are the elderly and those with underlying diseases. The most effective means of protection is vaccination. The population of these two cities is also relatively old, and the proportion of the elderly population is higher than the national average. Therefore, strengthening the vaccination of the elderly and effectively increasing the rate of whole process vaccination and the vaccination rate for the booster shot is an effective means to protect their health, which must be strengthened. At the same time, it should be emphasized that in response to the outbreak of the Omicron, we must go all out to implement the policy of ensuring that all those in need are tested, isolated, hospitalized, or treated. We have formed this experience since the fight against the Wuhan epidemic in 2020. As long as the policy is fulfilled, the transmission chain of the epidemic can be quickly and effectively cut off, the people's health can be effectively protected, and medical treatment can be effectively executed.

Last but not least, the battle against the COVID-19 pandemic is an all-out people's war. It is also a systemic process that needs strong synergies among governments, departments, every individual, and the whole society. The efforts to fight the pandemic in Shanghai and Beijing need to mobilize the entire society under the guidance of a systemic philosophy to ensure that local authorities, relevant departments, employers, and individuals fulfill their responsibilities. I think we will win the anti-pandemic war, as we are waging a people's war against it in a swifter response and a more scientific and efficient manner. Thank you.