BEIJING, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) — Over 1.26 billion Chinese people, or nearly 90 percent of the country’s population, have received COVID-19 vaccine jabs as of Friday, said a health official on Saturday.

Among them, more than 1.22 billion have completed their vaccination, said He Qinghua, the official with the National Health Commission, at a press conference in Beijing.

Urging the public to receive booster shots as soon as possible, the official called on people to continue to wear masks, keep social distance, and strengthen ventilation inside the room to prevent COVID-19 infection.

Read more: Battle against Omicron variant at “toughest moment”

Nearly 2.93 billion COVID-19 vaccine doses had been administered across the country as of Friday, according to the commission.