China’s Guangdong province rules out special health code for unvaccinated and warns against ‘excessive’ restrictions

The provincial health authority dismissed a suggestion that those who were not vaccinated or tested should be given a blue code
Chinese local authorities have sometimes introduced strict controls on residents in an attempt to comply with the country’s zero-Covid policy

Coronavirus China

Phoebe Zhang

Published: 9:00pm, 31 Jul 2022

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Health authorities in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong have rejected a proposal to give unvaccinated citizens a different health code and issued a rare warning against “excessive” Covid restrictions.

The Guangdong Provincial Health Commission posted a statement on its website this week ruling out the suggestion from Liu Shixing, a local representative on the National People’s Congress, that those who failed to get vaccinated or tested should be given a “blue health code for easier management”.

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Currently, China’s data-based real-time health code uses a traffic-light system, where the green code shows the user as “risk-free”, while the red and yellow codes incur travel and other restrictions.

One can turn the health code green by getting tested or following quarantine procedures that differ from city to city.

In the statement, the Guangdong health authorities said there was no national policy that supports an additional code and a blue code might cause inconvenience for some people because not everyone can get vaccinated

“We suggest that all cities should strictly regulate the function of health codes and not expand their scope of application, and caution against excessive restrictions,” the health commission said.

China continues to grapple with a low vaccination rate, especially among its elderly population. Only 61 per cent of those aged above 80, one of the most vulnerable groups, have received their primary vaccinations, health officials said last week, and only 38 per cent of people in that age group have received a booster shot.

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To boost confidence in home-made vaccinations, last week China issued the first official confirmation that its top leaders have all been jabbed.

At the same time, the country has been implementing the zero-Covid strategy that led to the stringent lockdown of Shanghai earlier this year, but analysts have warned that it is becoming increasingly unsustainable.

Under pressure to reduce the risk of an outbreak, some local governments have imposed excessive restrictions to drive up the vaccination rate and ensure mass testing.

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On Monday, a notice from a neighbourhood committee in the eastern city of Wuxi, warning that unvaccinated residents would lose their medical insurance and year-end benefits for the elderly and poor, went viral online.

Last week, a school in the same city said children must have proof that their grandparents are vaccinated before they could start the new school year. The policy was later scrapped following a public outcry.

On Friday, the National Health Commission took action against excessive restrictions, calling for cities across China to recognise each other’s PCR results.

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“At present, some places still do not approve these results from other regions and require repeated testing,” the notice said. “We must promote national mutual recognition of test results in order to provide convenience for the public as they travel.”

It called for local governments to recognise test results both electronically and on paper, and not deny people entry to places or public transport just because they have not been tested locally.