(Yicai Global) Dec. 14 -- China will start giving a second booster dose of Covid-19 vaccines to high-risk groups amid rising cases.

People aged above 60 or those with underlying medical conditions or immunodeficiency should receive their fourth jab in six months or longer after the third dose, or the first booster, according to a notice released by the National Health Commission today. All approved vaccine options are available.

The number of cases is surging after the country eased its epidemic prevention and control policy. Vaccination is a powerful weapon to protect vulnerable people from infection and reduce the incidence of severe cases, the NHC said.

People are recommended to choose vaccines that use a different method than the earlier ones to improve immunization against the omicron variant that has become the most common in China. For example, those who received three inactivated inoculations could this time select a recombinant protein, an adenovirus-based, or a recombinant new coronavirus vaccine, per the document.

The elderly are not as resistant to the virus as young adults, and active vaccination can reduce severe symptoms, Qin Tiehe, head of a provincial epidemic expert group in Guangdong province, said to Yicai Global.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Emmi Laine, Xiao Yi