Shanghai to ramp up vaccination of elderly

Shanghai will speed up efforts to vaccinate its elderly population against COVID-19, the local health authority said at a news briefing on Friday.

The city administered around 100,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine between May 1 and 11, with about half of these vaccines given to people aged 60 and above, according to Zhao Dandan, deputy director of the Shanghai Municipal Health Commission.

To date, 9.54 million doses have been administered to 3.72 million people aged 60 and above in Shanghai. Among them, 3.6 million people have received two doses of vaccine, while nearly 2.25 million have gotten their third booster dose, Zhao added.

"Given the large aging population that is vulnerable to the virus, vaccination acts as one of the most effective means to protect the elderly group and we must promptly accelerate the vaccination of this group of people," Zhao said.

The elderly can now make reservations to be vaccinated in 139 outpatient departments across the city.

"For elder people with mobility problems, door-to-door services, shuttle buses from residence to hospitals, and mobile vaccination sites are provided by nursing homes and communities as well," Zhao added.