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Tuesday, March 16, 2021

Foreigners must take China-made COVID-19 vaccine to get visa

Four hundred million doses of China-made vaccines are set for export.

• March 16, 2021
President Xi Jinping of China (Credit: BBC)

China says it will offer a visa to foreigners who have taken a jab of the China-made COVID-19 vaccine, Channels TV reports.

Many foreigners who work and have families inside the country were stranded as the country closed its borders to foreigners in March 2020 to curtail the virus’ spread.

The China embassy in the U.S. said in a statement released on Monday that it would begin to process ”visa applicants inoculated with Chinese Covid-19 vaccines.”

The statement further noted that the reopening would apply from this week to foreigners visiting the Chinese mainland for work resumption, business travel, or ”humanitarian needs,” such as reuniting with family members.

Chinese embassies in other countries like Pakistan, the Philippines, India, Italy, and Sri Lanka had published similar statements.

China’s statement also indicated that this consideration would apply to those who had either taken two doses of the vaccine or a single dose at least 14 days before applying for the visa.

When the visas are granted, those arriving in China will still have to go through a quarantine process of three weeks.

China has yet to approve any foreign-made jab so far but has approved four domestically-produced vaccines.

Even though the country has barely gained international trust for its vaccine candidates due to lack of transparency on test results, it has begun shipping its vaccines abroad, with over 600,000 doses delivered to the Philippines.

Four hundred million doses of China-made vaccines are set for export, all in an attempt to create a soft-landing for the foreign criticism of the outbreak of the virus from its shores.

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