China administers over 200 mln COVID-19 vaccine doses

A health worker shows the information on the box of COVID-19 vaccine at a community health center in Malu Town of Jiading new city, east China's Shanghai, April 19, 2021. (Xinhua/Liu Ying)

BEIJING, April 21 (Xinhua) -- China has seen over 200 million COVID-19 vaccine doses administered nationwide, a health official told a press conference Wednesday.

Authorities have taken into account the demand for the second dose in the allocation of vaccines to localities, said Mi Feng, spokesperson for the National Health Commission (NHC).

Mi urged local efforts in precise vaccine distribution and supply to ensure that people get their second dose within eight weeks following the first one.

China has prioritized COVID-19 vaccination for medical workers since last year. So far, the vaccination rate among health workers has exceeded 80 percent, said another NHC official Li Dachuan.

Meanwhile, the pandemic keeps spreading across the world, with the number of new confirmed COVID-19 cases rising for eight weeks in a row, said Mi.

There were 5.26 million new cases reported globally last week, the highest weekly rise since the outbreak of the coronavirus, Mi said.

As new variants of the virus continue to emerge, China still faces challenges in preventing imported cases and domestic resurgence, he added.