Zhejiang authorities recently updated the QR health code being applied in the province so that the code can reflect whether its user has been inoculated with a COVID-19 vaccine.

For those who have received at least one jab of a COVID-19 vaccine, a special pattern is placed in the center of the QR health code in their mobile apps, and a line of Chinese characters is added below the code.

The pattern consists of an English letter "Z" which represents Zhejiang and a golden Caduceus – a worldwide symbol of medical science.

A pattern is placed in the center of the QR health code for those who have received at least one jab of a COVID-19 vaccine. [Photo/WeChat account: zjfabu]

For those who have received all required doses of a vaccine, the added line, green in color, reads that COVID-19 vaccination has been completed, while a line of grey-colored characters stating that a COVID-19 vaccine has been received is placed on QR codes for those who have received vaccines before but have not yet received all the necessary doses.

As of July 27, Zhejiang had administered 77.74 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to 46.88 million adults, or 87.2 percent of the province's adult population. The province is also set to extend mass vaccination to minors aged 12 and 17 starting Aug 1.

Zhejiang authorities view mass vaccination as an increasingly pressing task as a recent rise in COVID-19 infections in Nanjing, capital of Jiangsu province, which is adjacent to Zhejiang, has been attributed to the highly infectious COVID-19 Delta variant.

A snapshot of the health QR code of a Zhejiang resident who has received all required doses of a COVID-19 vaccine. [Photo/WeChat account:zjfabu]