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Employee of the pharmaceutical company Sinovac in Beijing
Photo: Ng Han Guan / dpa
The uniformed security guard at the gate of my Beijing apartment building slipped his mask under his nose.
This is noticeable, as the gatekeepers were always the toughest at the height of the corona pandemic: They never missed an opportunity to admonish residents with carelessly worn mouth and nose protection;
They kept their own even in the sweltering summer heat.
And now, in the increasingly cool autumn, this meander?
"Don't worry," says the man at the gate.
"We are all vaccinated already."
Like all of his colleagues, he was injected with a Covid 19 vaccine a few weeks ago, he says, and a second dose is coming soon.
The police officers who stand guard in front of the nearby embassies in Beijing's diplomatic district Sanlitun would even get three.
He didn't have a choice, says the guard: His employer obliged him to do so.
China wants to overtake the USA
China is determined to win the global race for a vaccine.
Because Donald Trump is pushing for a breakthrough before the US presidential election in early November, China is aiming for approval in October, writes the well-informed "New Yorker".
But Beijing is not even waiting for this close date.
Like the gatekeeper, hundreds of thousands of Chinese have already been vaccinated, despite the risks.
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