BEIJING (AP) — China is aiming to vaccinate 70-80% of its population by the end of this year or mid-2022, the head of the country’s Center for Disease Control said Saturday. With four approved vaccines, China will vaccinate 900 million to 1 billion people, Gao Fu, the CDC head, said in an interview with Chinese state media broadcaster CGTN. “We hope that China can take the lead in achieving herd immunity in the world,” he said. Herd immunity occurs when enough of the population has immunity, either from vaccination or past infection, to stop the uncontrolled spread of an infectious disease like COVID-19. China had administered 52.5 million vaccine doses through the end of February.

Source: Egypt Independent March 13, 2021 11:15 UTC