[News] China has applied more than 1 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines

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The Chinese authorities have not given the green light to any foreign vaccines and are immunizing with seven local drugs.

China has already administered more than 1 billion doses of its COVID-19 vaccines in its national territory, the National Health Commission of the Asian country reported this Sunday.

In a brief statement, the institution points out that more than 1.010 million doses had been inoculated in China as of Saturday.

The number of injected doses represents more than a third of the world total. By Friday, the world had passed the barrier of 2.5 billion doses, according to an AFP tally based on official sources.

The local press highlights that 100 million of these injections have been administered in the last six days, which shows the acceleration of the vaccination campaign.

The objective of the authorities is to vaccinate at least 70% of the po[CENSORED]tion - the groups that can be inoculated include minors between 3 and 17 years old for a few days - before the end of 2021, says EFE.

The Chinese did not rush to get vaccinated because the virus has been almost eradicated in the country for more than a year, thanks to mandatory quarantines, mass testing and mobile applications to control movements.

The lack of initially available data on Chinese vaccines and past adulterated dose scandals in China also contributed to the demotivation of some people.

Given this, the government and companies strongly urged residents and employees to get vaccinated. In some cases, the authorities offer purchase vouchers or eggs to encourage vaccination.

Of the seven vaccines authorized by China for emergency use - four also have a marketing permit - so far, five require two doses; one, of three, and another, the one developed by CanSino, only of one.

At the moment, the Chinese authorities have not given the green light to any foreign vaccines for use in the mainland of the country - they are used, for example, in the semi-autonomous region of Hong Kong - despite the fact that, for example, the pharmaceutical company local Fosun Pharma has had an agreement for months to distribute the Pfizer-BioNTech preparation.

Meanwhile, the health authorities reported this Sunday 23 new cases of the virus in the last 24 hours, all from abroad and who were placed in isolation.

There have only been two deaths from COVID-19 in thirteen months in China. Shops, restaurants and bars reopened in the spring of 2020 and public opinion is generally very satisfied with the management of the crisis by the government of President Xi Jinping.