China’s first COVID-19 vaccine mandate to be introduced in Beijing

Beijing will introduce a vaccine mandate for certain venues – the first of its kind in China since the start of the pandemic, as the country deals with the recent arrival of the highly contagious Omicron BA.5 variant.

The Beijing Health Commission announced that from next week anyone entering libraries, museums, cinemas, art galleries, sports and fitness venues, entertainment venues or any crowded places in the capital “must be vaccinated”.

China has so far resisted mass vaccine mandates as part of its pursuit of “zero-COVID”, instead relying on strict lockdowns, contact tracing, automatically tracking people’s travel history and mass PCR testing to try to stamp out outbreaks as they arise.

However, employees working in “high-risk” sectors, including public transport, have previously been required to have been vaccinated.

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