Truck drivers drive dozens of hours to transport COVID-19 vaccines in China

Refrigerated trucks transporting COVID-19 vaccines are seen at the production base of Sinovac in Beijing, capital of China, July 20, 2021. Over 1.6 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines had been administered in China as of July 28, the National Health Commission said Thursday. COVID-19 vaccines are sent from Beijing to other parts of the country every day. Lu Yanhui and Liu Si, two drivers of Sinovac Research & Development Co., Ltd., took the task of sending a batch of COVID-19 vaccines from Beijing to Ganzi Prefecture of Sichuan Province on July 20, 2021. They took turns driving, stopping every four hours for a 20 minutes rest to ensure that the vaccines arrive as safely and quickly as possible. “When I’m hungry, I eat snacks on the truck, and sometimes I take a bite at the service area on the expressway,” Liu said, holding the steering wheel and staring ahead. “This shipment is not ordinary goods. We dare not delay it for a minute.” After nearly 40 hours of driving, Lu Yanhui and Liu Si arrived in Ganzi Prefecture of southwest China’s Sichuan Province on time. (Xinhua/Peng Ziyang)