Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – Germany has reportedly shipped a Covid-19 vaccine manufactured by Pfizer-BioNTech to China. This vaccine delivery is the first time that foreign vaccine shipments have been sent to the bamboo curtain country.
Citing a Reuters report, on Wednesday (21/12/2022), the vaccine will initially be given to German expats who are in the country. However, it is possible that other citizens of the country could receive the vaccine injection, which is provided in 20,000 slots.
In a letter to be sent to German citizens in China, the government said it would offer free core vaccinations and booster shots of vaccines approved for use in the European Union for anyone over the age of 12.
“We are working on the possibility that in addition to Germans, other foreigners can also be vaccinated with BioNTech,” a German government spokesman said.
“The vaccine will be delivered to German companies in China as well as embassy locations and talks are underway with other EU governments to send it to citizens of other countries,” added a source familiar with the situation.
On the other hand, Chinese citizens in Europe can be vaccinated with the Chinese-made SinoVac vaccine. The German Minister of Health himself has granted this import permit only to citizens of Bamboo Curtain Country.
The shipments came after China agreed to allow German nationals in the country to receive the injections following an agreement during Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s visit to Beijing last month. Scholz himself has also proposed to Beijing to allow the injections to be freely available to Chinese citizens.
Meanwhile, this shipment was made when China was experiencing a sharp spike in Covid-19 cases. This comes as the country begins to loosen its epidemic control policies.
Zhou Jiatong, head of the Center for Disease Control in the southwestern region of Guangxi, said last month in an article published by the Shanghai Journal of Preventive Medicine that mainland China will face more than 2 million deaths if it eases Covid restrictions. like Hong Kong did this year.
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