As the New Year holiday from Jan 1 to 3 is fast approaching, staying safe amid COVID-19, whether at home or during travel, is everyone's top concern. To help you protect yourself during the holiday, we've provided some information and tips about everything from vaccination and travel safety to the mutated strain of the virus.

Vaccination:
1. Who should get vaccinated first?
Vaccines will be given first to priority groups with a high potential risk of infection including:
*Inspection and quarantine customs staff engaged in handling imported cold-chain products
*Those working at frontier ports exposed to overseas infection hazards
*Medical workers
*Aviation staff
*People whose work is related to transportation
*Those who will work or study in countries and regions with a medium or high risk of exposure to the virus

2. With more vaccines becoming available, more and more people will become eligible for the vaccine

3.  People who should not be vaccinated:
*Patients with a fever
*Those with chronic diseases
*Those suffering from acute illness
*Pregnant women

4. How to get vaccinated?
*Local departments will release information about when and where to get the vaccination
*Temporary vaccination sites will be set up to meet public demand
*All vaccination sites will provide a receipt
*People should report their health condition to medical workers before they are vaccinated, and stay at vaccination sites for about 30 minutes for observation after vaccination.
*It is not recommended that you get vaccinated for COVID-19 and HPV at the same time
*Side effects observed usually include headache and fever, redness and a lump at the vaccination point, as well as cough, loss of appetite, vomiting and diarrhea.

Tips for prevention during the holiday:
*Cut down on unnecessary travel
*Avoid peak times when returning to your hometown and work
*Seniors, pregnant women and those with chronic diseases are not encouraged to do long-distance travel
*Wear masks and practice good hand hygiene during the trip
*Eat fewer meals on trains or planes and retain your ticket stubs
*Reduce unnecessary gatherings and social activities
*Preventive measures should be taken for gatherings involving more than 50 people, and family gatherings should be limited to under 10 individuals.
* If you have symptoms such as fever, cough or fatigue, please go to the nearest fever clinic.

About the mutated virus:
Q: Is the mutated strain of virus in China?
A: No mutated novel coronavirus has been found in incoming travelers or imported goods arriving in China, according to Feng Zijian, deputy director of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

Q: Does the coronavirus mutation have any impact on the vaccines?
A: Current research has shown that the mutation of the new coronavirus is still within a normal range, and its impact on the effectiveness of the vaccine has not yet been determined, according to Wang Huaqing, a chief researcher at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

What is environment-to-human transmission of the virus?
It refers to people becoming infected by touching contaminated goods. "Environmental spread" of COVID-19 happens only when the following conditions are met at the same time:
*The goods are heavily contaminated
*The virus can survive on the surface of the goods for a long time
*Those who were in contact with the contaminated goods didn't take any preventive measures

How to prevent such transmission?
Environment-to-human transmission of the virus is still rare in China, so wear face masks and practice proper hand hygiene when you need to touch goods that may be contaminated.