BEIJING — Beijing will start administering COVID-19 vaccines among specific groups of people with higher infection risks, the municipal health authorities said on Dec 31.

Nine groups of people aged 18 to 59 will receive the vaccine before the Spring Festival of 2021, which falls on Feb 12. These include frontline customs inspectors of imported cold-chain goods and personnel working in the overseas and domestic transportation sector. So said Gao Xiaojun, spokesperson for the municipal health commission, at a press briefing.

After the vaccines get market approval, authorities in Beijing will start vaccination for other groups on a reservation basis, said Gao.

China announced on Dec 31 that it had granted conditional marketing authorization for its first self-developed COVID-19 vaccine.

The inactivated vaccine got approval from the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA). It was developed by the Beijing Biological Products Institute Co Ltd under the China National Biotec Group (CNBG), affiliated with Sinopharm.