By Hu Yuwei
The largest COVID-19 vaccination site in Beijing’s Chaoyang district entered the fourth day of its operation on Monday. It vaccinated more than 2,000 people on Monday, who were taken in groups to the site in minibuses.
Global Times reporters saw people lining up for their first dose of the recently approved COVID-19 vaccine developed by Sinopharm at the site, located in a museum.
The vaccination process takes around 50 minutes, including 30 minutes for medical observation after injection. Everyone was provided detailed information about the inoculation and personal consultation on safety concerns, before they moved to the injection area to get the long-anticipated dose against the coronavirus.
Each compartment in the inoculation area is also equipped with a small refrigerator with temperature set at 5 degrees to store the vaccine.
Medical workers asked people to check the vaccine type and validity before administering the shots. Each vaccine can be traced back to its source via code, and each individual vaccination data is promptly recorded and then reported to the national Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) system, medical workers told the Global Times.
To improve data recording and sharing, provinces are now able to report their daily COVID-19 vaccination data and vaccine tracking statistics to the national immunization planning information system, a national health official said during an internal training session on mass vaccination on December 15, 2020.
Those who have received other vaccines within 28 days are not allowed to receive doses, so are pregnant women and those with other diseases such as heart problems and high blood pressure.
Most of the people getting doses here over the past four days are working in the cold-chain, food, or logistics industries. No cases of serious adverse reactions have been reported; only some mild symptoms such as dizziness, fatigue, and elevated blood pressure have been monitored. They were all registered for shots in groups via companies or government departments.
Individual application is not acceptable at the moment.
The emergency room set up at the vaccination site is equipped with first aid facilities such as ventilators and defibrillators as well as professional rescue personnel.
An ambulance is parked outside the vaccination site to respond in case anyone has a serious adverse reaction.
Clear signs and guidance staff at the site ensure a smooth and quiet operation. More than 120 people from the local government have been involved at this single site to guarantee good service.
Chaoyang district has set up 42 COVID-19 vaccination centers and one temporary large-scale site, and the district expects to vaccinate around 200,000 people from nine high-risk groups before Spring Festival that falls on February 12.
Medical workers told the Global Times that only people aged between 18 and 59 years can be vaccinated, and those over 60 are currently not in the first batch of priority groups according to relevant policies.
The Global Times reporters also visited a vaccination site in Shijingshan district of Beijing, finding out that it uses vaccines from both Sinopharm and Sinovac for injecting priority groups. It also only vaccinates people between 18 to 59, with medical workers explaining that further clinical trial data are needed to ensure the eligibility of other age groups.
A young worker from the logistics industry, who was excited to get the dose, told the Global Times that most of his colleagues, especially those dealing with cold-chain food, had signed up for the vaccination voluntarily. “I have long been looking forward to getting the shot, as many of us hope we can earn more money after being vaccinated,” he said.
Feng, a supermarket worker, told the Global Times on Monday that she decided to get the dose after consultation with medical workers at the site. “I was worried about the side effects at first, but compared to the risks associated with coming in contact with hundreds of people every day, I feel it is safer to take the shot, as the benefits outweigh the risks.” She had no adverse reactions in 25 minutes after the injection.
