BEIJING (Reuters) – The municipality of Beijing has backed out of plans to limit access to public places – cinemas, libraries or sports centers – only to people vaccinated against COVID-19 in the face of the wave of opposition following the announcement of this measure.
The requirement, which was supposed to come into effect on Monday, would have been an exception in China, where the central government relies more on volunteers and has rebuffed previous attempts by local officials to introduce provisions to make vaccination compulsory.
The official Beijing Daily reported late Thursday evening that the authorities in the Chinese capital had finally given up on their plan to restrict access to public places to people vaccinated against COVID-19, the day after the announcement of this measure. .
According to an unidentified municipal official quoted by the newspaper, Beijingers will be able to access public places, after a temperature check, subject to having proof of a negative result of a screening test within 72 hours.
While the Chinese government has not made vaccination compulsory – except for certain specific professions – authorities have warned that lower vaccination coverage among the elderly is a flaw in China’s response to the COVID-19 epidemic. .
Many local officials have set up vaccination incentive programs, offering, for example, discount vouchers targeting the least vaccinated populations.
(Report Roxanne Liu and Ryan Woo; French version Myriam Rivet, edited by Jean-Stéphane Brosse)
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