More bricks for Great Wall of immunity

A resident receives a shot of COVID-19 vaccine at a temporary vaccination site in Nan'an district of Chongqing, Southwest China, March 27, 2021. [Photo/Xinhua]

Starting on Wednesday, the National Health Commission has been updating the latest COVID-19 vaccination information on a daily basis on its official website. This is the world's first vaccination daily reporting system.

In fact, it has been the commission's consistent practice since the outbreak of the epidemic to update relevant data every day. The number of newly-increased and cumulative numbers of newly diagnosed, close contacts, critically ill patients, asymptomatic infections, the number of discharged patients, and the number of deaths in a single day are updated daily. This timely sharing of information helped China bring the epidemic largely under control in a quick and efficient manner.

Similarly, the daily updating of the number of people who have been inoculated with the COVID-19 vaccine will encourage those who might be hesitating about getting a jab to do so and boost people's confidence about traveling and consuming.

Interestingly, a benign circle might be formed in this way, as more businesses will encourage their staff to be vaccinated. And as more people are vaccinated, this will achieve the rate necessary to form herd immunity earlier, further boosting consumption confidence.

For the government, the updated data will provide strong support for future decision-making. The COVID-19 vaccination process involves many departments: The production, transportation, storage, distribution, vaccination, and future surveys all need professional staff and their coordination is of the utmost importance. The daily updated data will also make it possible for the leading government department to master all information and coordinate prevention and control efforts.

China has gained ample experience in successfully putting COVID-19 under effective control, and part of this has been the good coordination of resources so they have the maximum effect.

The same applies to COVID-19 vaccinations. The daily updating of data is not only a record of what has already been achieved, but also a guidance for future actions. The daily record of vaccination information will help China complete the building of a Great Wall of immunity.