Last week authorities extended some COVID lockdown curbs until Jan. 18, including the temporary closure of hospitality venues and non-essential retailers.
The new week-long stay at home orders affecting about 18 million people in Shijiazhuang and Xingtai come as cases spike ahead of the Lunar New Year, when hundreds of millions criss-cross the country to visit family and friends.
One in two intensive care beds are occupied by COVID-19 patients and non-essential procedures are still being postponed to ease the burden on hospitals.
"A really good start to the vaccination program. It's been 7 days and we have done: England: 108,000, Wales: 7,897, Northern Ireland: 4,000, Scotland: 18,000. U.K Total 137,897,".
Ramos said the super cold storage units needed for the shots would be set up at the three distribution points but not at the 1,200 health centres where the jabs will be given to the population.