China to issue visas to foreign nationals inoculated with Chinese COVID-19 vaccines

China on Monday said that it would start processing visa applications of those who have either taken one dose or both doses of Chinese-made COVID-19 vaccines. The Chinese Embassy in the United States, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and the Philippines issued a statement yesterday, saying it would allow only those foreigners to visit the country who have taken Chinese-made vaccines. 

“To resume people-to-people exchanges between China and other countries in an orderly way, starting from March 15, 2021, the Chinese Embassy in the United States will provide the following facilitation for visa applicants inoculated with Chinese COVID-19 vaccines (having taken either two doses of inactivated vaccines with the stipulated gap in between, or a single-dose vaccine at least 14 days prior to the application) and obtained the vaccination certificate,” Chinese Embassy in the US said in a statement.

The Chinese Embassy said foreign nationals and their family members can visit mainland China for work or “humanitarian needs”, such as “taking care of the elderly, visiting relatives, attending funerals or visiting critically ill relatives”. The statement added that holders of valid APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) business cards are also allowed to apply for visas. Those arriving in China will still have to go through all the tests and quarantine measures imposed by the Chinese government. 

China's COVID-19 vaccine

China has started vaccinations throughout the country and is also exporting vaccine doses to other nations, including Pakistan, Indonesia, Cambodia, Turkey, the Philippines, etc. Chinese vaccines have been approved in several countries, mainly in low-and middle-income nations that are unlikely to buy more expensive Western-made vaccines. China is also using this as an opportunity to shrug off the blame for the initial spread of the COVID-19 virus, which is believed to have originated in Wuhan. 

One of China's main COVID-19 vaccines, developed by pharmaceutical firm Sinovac, has not produced satisfactory numbers in trials held across variuous countries. In Indonesia, trial results showed Sinovac's Coronavac was 65.3% effective, while in Brazil, a revised figure showed it to be 50.4% effective. However, Chinese scientists have said the vaccine is safe enough to be used for emergency on high-risk people. Media reports suggest that China has been administering the vaccine among its population since July. China recently approved the fourth homegrown COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use. 

If Chinese government figures are to be believed, the country has managed to control the COVID-19 outbreak. According to publicly available data, China has recorded less than a hundred cases for the past one year, with the exception being July 2020 and January 2021, when the country registered over a hundred cases for a few days in between.