Shenzhen has started rolling out COVID-19 vaccination for children aged 3 to 11, with a total of 266 vaccination sites available citywide that can provide free vaccination services for the young, the city’s health authority said.

In Shenzhen, the COVID-19 vaccines for children aged 3 to 11 are mainly the inactivated vaccines developed by domestic drugmaker Sinopharm, which have already been approved by State departments for use in this age group.

The inactivated COVID-19 vaccines require two shots and the interval between the two doses is recommended to be three weeks or longer. The second dose shall be completed within eight weeks after the first dose.

Children are recommended to wait 14 days after the COVID-19 vaccine before getting other vaccines such as the flu shot. Children who might be allergic to any component of the vaccines or have severe neurological and chronic diseases are advised to defer COVID-19 vaccination.

Parents should approve and supervise their children’s whole vaccination process, according to the Shenzhen Municipal Health Commission.

During vaccination, parents or guardians must bring relevant documents to the vaccination site, including the children’s immunization records, ID card or household registration, and the informed consent form signed by a parent or guardian, with the name and ID number of at least one parent.

On-campus students aged 3 to 11 can mainly get vaccinated through schools and kindergartens organizing specific arrangements, which are subject to the notice of each district’s education department.

For those children who are not yet in school, individual vaccination appointments are accessible on WeChat accounts, including “szwjwwx” (深圳卫健委), “szcdcepi” (深圳疾控) and “jkshenzhen” (健康深圳), or the “社康通” WeChat miniprogram.