BEIJING — A senior Chinese health official said 215.6 million senior residents had been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, representing 81.67 percent of the population aged 60 and above.

A total of 162.3 million senior people had received a booster jab, said Wu Liangyou, an official with the National Health Commission.

COVID-19 vaccine has been proven effective in preventing severe conditions and deaths from the virus, Wu stressed, calling on the public to get fully vaccinated as soon as possible particularly given recent outbreaks of the virus across the country.