COVID booster shots

China began delivering COVID-19 booster shots over the weekend based on technologies different from those used in initial inoculations in the country, in an effort to reinforce herd immunity against the disease.

The method, known as sequential immunization, targets people over 18 years old who are fully vaccinated with one of the three inactivated vaccines produced by Sinopharm and Sinovac Biotech, according to the National Health Commission. Two shots are required for full vaccination. Instead of receiving an additional shot developed with the same technology, which has been standard practice in the country since October, people eligible for a booster now have wider choices. They can get a protein subunit COVID-19 vaccine made by Anhui Zhifei Longcom Biopharmaceutical or a viral vector vaccine from CanSino Biologics.

Sci-tech journals

A growing number of sci-tech journals from China have improved their international rankings since the country launched a plan to boost the quality of its home-grown journals, with 96 of them ranking among the top quartile globally by subject, Science and Technology Daily reported on Friday.

Addressing a press conference, the China Association for Science and Technology (CAST) said 25 journals by Chinese publishers are ranked in the top 5 percent globally by subject, while 20 journals are listed in the top 3 percent, and seven journals are placed in the top 1 percent. The number of overseas institutions citing China’s sci-tech journals has increased from 864 to 9,608, and the number of citation sources has grown from 42 countries and regions to 124.

Exams for kindergarteners

Kindergartens should not be evaluated based on kindergarteners’ cognitive abilities and development levels, according to a recent guideline issued by the Ministry of Education.

The guideline came as the ministry reiterated the need to ban academic teaching and learning at kindergartens, stressing that the main activity at kindergartens should be playing games. Kindergartens need to make physical exercise plans suitable for pupils and make sure they can have more than two hours of outdoor activities every day, it said.

Virtual reality tech

Eighty-three old buildings in Southwest China’s Sichuan Province can now be visited through scanning QR codes with the help of Virtual Reality (VR) technology, said the cultural relics and archaeology research institute of Chengdu, the provincial capital of Sichuan.

Over 100 historical buildings in Sichuan have been investigated and mapped since 2008. Of those, the VR data of 83 old buildings have been collected. The ancient architecture center of the institute has reconfirmed or determined the age of 23 historical buildings in Sichuan. (SD-Agencies)