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Shanghai has become the first city in mainland China to offer Covid-19 vaccines to foreign expatriates, local authorities have revealed.
Foreigners who meet the age requirements can voluntarily request the vaccine as of Monday.
The Shanghai municipal government announced the plan on Tuesday, saying expats would have to bear the costs and risks associated with the vaccine.
Foreigners who want to get vaccinated can book appointments through Health Cloud, an application managed by local health authorities. They will then be informed via text messages of the date, time and place of their vaccination, the government announced.
Shanghai authorities said they would provide the two-dose inactivated vaccines, although it is unclear which brand that would be.
Foreign nationals who have joined the Shanghai public health insurance plan will receive the same treatment as Chinese nationals and will have access to vaccines for free. Those not covered by the insurance plan will be charged 100 yuan (US $ 15.30) per dose.
Authorities urged potential vaccine recipients to pay close attention to their health within 14 days of inoculation. Anyone with an adverse response to the vaccine was warned to go directly to a hospital.
Shanghai-based self-employed American expat Michael Goffman, 41, said he supported the initiative because he believed that “anyone living in China should have access to the vaccine if they wanted to take it.”
“There are reports of people dying after receiving the vaccine, but I have not seen any evidence that the Sinovac vaccine (a Beijing-based pharmaceutical developer) caused any deaths, just sensational media reports. Until evidence is presented. otherwise, no “I have no major concerns about it,” the digital content creator told the South China Morning Post.
“However, based on early data, the efficacy rate of the Sinovac vaccine appears to be slightly lower than that of some of the other vaccines. Again, it is too early to know for sure, but I will definitely be considering taking the vaccine. with the highest efficacy rate, “he said.
Goffman said he likely would not request the vaccine until travel was possible.
“When the trips start to open up, I will most likely be vaccinated. Right now, there are very few cases in China and I do not plan to leave this year, so there is no rush,” he said.
Goffman said he was not opposed to paying the small fee to get the vaccine, and said he was more concerned that everyone would be required to be vaccinated.
“I will probably take one of the vaccines eventually, but I think everyone should have the right to decide for themselves based on their own concerns and physical condition,” he said.
Ishiwata Tanni, a 31-year-old Japanese citizen who is a board member of the Shanghai Cao Peng Music Center, said that he did not think it was necessary to get vaccinated immediately.
“The quality of domestically made vaccines shouldn’t be a problem, but I still prefer to adopt a wait-and-see attitude,” Ishiwata told the Post.
“When the time comes, I will definitely take the vaccine.”
But Eli Beck, a 63-year-old Israeli expert in the agricultural technology sector, said he would sign up to get vaccinated.
“I believe that it is the duty of each and every one to fight against Covid-19 by all possible means, and since I know so many people, I often travel within China, to give speeches or (do) agricultural consulting, it is my you should also be protected and protect others, “said Beck.
“I think most expats who stay in China love this country and need to have the same protection that locals get from the authorities.”
By March 21, Shanghai had seen 882,000 of the city’s 25 million residents receive the two-shot vaccine, with 2.6 million doses administered, according to the city’s municipal health authority.
Today the vaccination of city residents between 60 and 75 years old began and authorities said they would launch a vaccination plan for those aged 76 pending the advance of the inoculation campaign.
Zhang Wenhong, head of the Shanghai Covid-19 clinical expert team, said that at least 70 percent of the population must be inoculated to reach the goal necessary to achieve herd immunity.
“Some people ask me what happens if I do not receive the vaccine. I told them that people who have not been inoculated will suffer losses,” Zhang, who took the vaccine three months ago, told the Thepaper.cn news portal on Wednesday.
He said the adverse effects of Covid-19 vaccines in China to date were acceptable.
“In this age with the advanced auto-media sector, if there is a serious adverse response case, won’t everyone know about it soon?” Zhang was quoted as saying.
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