Photo taken on January 10 shows a staff working at the CoronaVac vaccine workshop of the Beijing-based Sinovac Life Sciences Co. Ltd.. (XINHUA) 

The cost of COVID-19 vaccination, including the costs of the vaccine and inoculation, will be covered by the medical insurance fund and the government, not by individuals, Li Tao, Deputy Director of the National Healthcare Security Administration, said at a press conference on January 9. 

After the vaccines are approved and available, they will be offered free to the Chinese who volunteer to be inoculated, according to Li.

Li also said that the administration's vaccine disbursement will not affect the current revenue and expenditure of the medical insurance fund or residents' medical treatment.

Given that the government has vowed to make the vaccine a public good, the announcement comes as no surprise. The government will pay for the vaccine at the price set by the companies according to their production, transportation and storage costs.

This is an edited excerpt of an article originally published in Beijing Youth Daily on January 11