China announced that it has achieved a key milestone, with 630 million people inoculated against Covid-19 by Thursday, as the country reached its target of vaccinating 40 per cent of the population by the end of June.
The country administered 24.7 million vaccine doses on Thursday alone, a record since the inoculation drive began in late March, bringing the total number to more than 1.12 billion.
Daily vaccinations accelerated from slightly over 2 million doses in late March to an average of more than 18 million in June as manufacturers scaled up production and local Covid-19 outbreaks startled residents into getting the shots.
"Over 40 per cent of the total population has been vaccinated. This is an important step towards establishing herd immunity," according to a statement carried by state broadcaster China Central Television on Friday.
The next target is the vaccination of 70 per cent of China's 1.4 billion people by the end of the year, but that will not automatically translate into so-called herd immunity - a state that can limit the spread of the virus, or lifting any restrictions, experts said.
With new virus variants circulating and the effectiveness of vaccines against them uncertain, it remains unclear when restrictions will be eased.
