China has administered more than 1 billion Covid-19 vaccine doses

China has administered more than 1 billion Covid-19 vaccine doses, an astonishing milestone that comes as the country rolls out an unrivaled inoculation drive. A total of 1,010,489,000 doses have been given as of Saturday, China's National Health Commission (NHC) said in a statement. Those doses are almost 40% of the 2.5 billion shots administered globally.

The NHC said 100 million doses were given in the five days up to and including Saturday, according to state media outlet Xinhua. The 1 billion number is all the more remarkable given that China's rollout had a stuttering start.  China only reached its first million administered doses on March 27 -- two weeks behind the US. But the pace picked up significantly in May, with more than 500 million shots given over the past month, according to data from the NHC.

"It took China 25 days to climb from 100 million doses to 200 million doses, 16 days to increase from 200 million to 300 million, and six days from 800 million to 900 million," Xinhua reported.

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