Beijing will provide novel coronavirus vaccinations for people over age 60 and patients with chronic diseases after enough data are collected, an expert said recently. 

Pang Xinghuo, deputy head of the Beijing Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said data on people's vaccinations and related research has been accumulating. Once the health authority gets enough data to ensure safety, the city government will start vaccinating the older people, patients with chronic diseases and people with allergies. 

Meanwhile, she said, the protection period of the novel coronavirus vaccines are not necessarily only half a year, which is widely believed by the public. 

"The reason why people say the effectiveness period is half a year is that we only have data for six months. At present, various departments are collecting data on the vaccinated population, which will give more information about the protection period of the vaccine."

She also reminded the public that people should provide detailed and accurate information about their health condition, especially any history of allergies, to doctors before receiving their vaccination.