China issued a notice on Tuesday to ramp up COVID vaccinations for the elderly, the National Health Commission said.

China will step up efforts to increase the rate of vaccination for people aged above 80 and will shorten the time gap between basic vaccination and booster shots to three months for the elderly, the commission said.

People aged 60 and above who have received two doses inched up from 85.6% in August to 86.4% in November, while the booster rate rose from 67.8% to 68.2% over the same period, according to official data. (Reporting by Beijing newsroom; Editing by Himani Sarkar)