Over 73,000 people in Beijing have been vaccinated against COVID-19 over the last couple of days, as China races to innoculate millions before the Chinese New Year mass travel season in February, state media reported on Monday.

Along with the frontline health workers, community workers and bus drivers have also received the first dose of the Sinopharm vaccine.

Health authorities on New Year’s Eve granted “conditional” approval to a vaccine candidate made by Chinese pharma giant Sinopharm, which the company said had a 79% efficacy rate.

Footage from state broadcaster CCTV showed people lined up outside local hospitals and community health centres waiting to get their temperatures checked before getting the shot.

Also read: Egypt approves use of China’s COVID-19 vaccine; in talks with AstraZeneca, Pfizer

Gyms and empty factories were among centres being used for the vaccination programme, health officials said.

The country, where the novel coronavirus first originated, plans to vaccinate millions this winter in the run-up to Lunar New Year in mid-February.

Beijing has already administered around 4.5 million doses of largely unproven emergency vaccines this year — mostly to health workers and other state employees destined for overseas jobs, according to authorities.

But China now plans a gradual rollout for the vaccine starting with key groups considered to have a high risk of exposure to the virus, including port and logistic workers and people planning to return to studies abroad.

China has broadly stamped out the virus inside its borders, introducing swift local lockdowns and mass testing when cases emerge.