Vaccination drive

China will start inoculating key groups with COVID-19 vaccines in this winter-spring period, said a National Health Commission (NHC) official in Beijing on Saturday.

In a two-step vaccination drive, the vaccines will be given first to priority groups, including those engaged in handling imported cold-chain products and people working in exposed sectors. These include port inspection and quarantine, public transport, fresh market, medical treatment and disease control, Cui Gang, an official with the NHC, said at a press conference. The program will also cover those who plan to work or study in countries and regions with medium or high risks of exposure to the virus.

Moon samples

The return capsule of China’s Chang’e-5 probe touched down on Earth in the early hours of Thursday, bringing back the country’s first samples collected from the moon, as well as the world’s freshest lunar samples in over 40 years.

Zhang Kejian, head of the China National Space Administration, declared the Chang’e-5 mission a success. President Xi Jinping on Thursday congratulated the complete success of the Chang’e-5 mission.

Top innovative regions

Guangdong, Beijing, Jiangsu and Shanghai are the most innovative regions in China, owning over 50 percent of the country’s basic research funds, according to a recent report on China’s regional innovation capability in 2020.

Eastern regions remained the most innovative, grabbing five spots among the top 10. While Shaanxi, Chongqing and Sichuan led in innovation in western regions of China, the report said. The top 10 innovative regions in China, according to the report, are Guangdong, Beijing, Jiangsu, Shanghai, Zhejiang, Shandong, Hubei, Anhui, Shaanxi and Chongqing.

Epidemiologist Li Lanjuan

Chinese epidemiologist Li Lanjuan has been selected in Nature’s list of 10 people who were part of big stories in science in 2020, as the science journal published the annual list online last week.

“In a year when the COVID-19 pandemic touched all parts of the globe, Nature has selected a group of people from around the world who were part of some of the biggest events in science in 2020,” said Rich Monastersky, chief features editor at Nature. Among the 10 people, Li is selected for her role in helping to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus, according to Nature. (SD-Agencies)