China faces difficulties in expanding COVID-19 vaccination drive, official says

BEIJING: China is facing growing difficulties in expanding its mass COVID-19 vaccination drive, but it will continue to inoculate more people and step up the programme of booster shots, a health official said on Friday.

Zheng Zhongwei, an official at the National Health Commission, did not specify the obstacles but stressed that those who have not been vaccinated could not rely on being protected by those who have had the shots amid concerns over the highly transmissible delta variant. "Recently, as (pushing vaccination work) came to the later stage, it has become increasingly difficult," Zheng said at a health forum.