Beijing (AFP)

The Chinese government said Thursday that it had fully vaccinated more than a billion inhabitants against Covid-19, or more than 70% of its population.

The most populous country on the planet (1.4 billion inhabitants), where the coronavirus appeared at the end of 2019, had distributed a total of 2.16 billion vaccines as of September 15, announced to the press on spokesperson for the Ministry of Health, Mi Feng.

The first country affected by the pandemic was also the first to escape in the spring of 2020, after the adoption of radical measures, including the widespread detection and virtual closure of its borders.

It still sporadically faces limited epidemic resurgence, as in recent days in Fujian province (east), with around fifty cases detected each day.

The official Covid death toll remains at 4,636.

The country began to vaccinate its population at the end of last year, mainly using two vaccines distributed in two doses by the Sinovac and Sinopharm laboratories.

Their efficacy rate is the subject of questions, particularly in the face of more resistant strains such as the Delta variant.

Beijing has not yet authorized the marketing of foreign vaccines on its soil.

© 2021 AFP