On 20 March, China reported their first local Covid-19 case since February when a hospital staff worker who had received two shots of a vaccine between the end of January and early February, tested positive for Covid-19.
The patient, Ms Liu, was working in the quarantine area of a hospital and was responsible for collecting the samples of people who were being quarantined, for Covid-19 testing.
The case was reported on 18 March 2021, making it China’s first locally transmitted Covid-19 case since 14 February.
China’s The Health Times reported that Ms Liu was accidentally infected after being exposed while in the quarantine area of the hospital.
The former chief epidemiologist of China’s Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr Zeng Guang, was quoted as saying that the vaccine doesn’t provide protection of 100%, and that it is “relatively safe” instead of “absolutely safe”.
He highlighted that the public should not doubt domestic vaccines because of the case.
Dr Zeng also added that China’s vaccine’s protection rate is more than 70 percent, and that their efficacy at preventing severe cases is more than 90 percent.
The Health Times however, did not specify which vaccine was administered to Ms Liu.
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