Economics
IMF Warns of Risks From China’s Slowing Covid Vaccination Rates
- Vaccination with three doses to take “years” at current pace
- Fiscal support still less than 2020, mission chief says
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The International Monetary Fund called on China to accelerate its coronavirus vaccination program, warning the sharply slowing pace of new doses administered could undermine a recovery in consumer spending in the economy.
At the current pace, providing three doses of Covid vaccines to the population would take a “matter of years,” Helge Berger, head of the IMF’s China mission, said in an interview. With spending growth yet to recover to pre-pandemic rates, partly because households are cautious about Covid infections, “an acceleration of the vaccination campaign would support confidence and ultimately consumption,” he said.