SHENZHEN has lowered the prices for nucleic acid testing at medical institutions, Shenzhen Municipal Healthcare Security Bureau said Wednesday.

The price of an individual test for a person was capped at 28 yuan (US$4.34), while the price for a group test, with the samples of several people being kept and tested in one tube, was reduced to a maximum of 6 yuan per person. The price of a COVID-19 RNA test was cut to 20 yuan per person.

Meanwhile, the price of an antigen test was lowered to no more than 15 yuan per person. The cost can be covered by the health insurance program if residents buy the self-test kit at designated retail drugstores.

Separately, Shenzhen is making every effort to help senior citizens aged 60 and above to complete their COVID vaccination and receive booster shots, Shenzhen Special Zone Daily reported Thursday.

At the Shenzhen Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine’s Fuzhong Health Service Center in Futian District, a green channel has been opened for senior citizens to get COVID-19 vaccines. The whole vaccination process takes less than 10 minutes.

For citizens who are unable to get to the center for a vaccine dose, the center provides door-to-door services.

Mobile vaccination vehicles are also being used in local communities to facilitate residents’ COVID vaccination, according to the Daily.

A mobile vaccination vehicle was parked at the gate of Chengshi Lyuzhou Huayuan, a residential compound in Futian, on Wednesday, to provide vaccination service to residents, with an ambulance parked next to the vaccination vehicle.

According to Hu Yanfen, a doctor from the Fuzhong Health Service Center, each vaccination site is staffed with at least two medical workers and one professional emergency doctor.

“A full course of vaccination and a timely booster shot is the best way to protect the elderly from the threat of COVID-19,” Hu said. She added that senior citizens’ blood pressure will be measured and evaluated before they receive the vaccine doses, and only eligible citizens will be inoculated.

The center has also established a family doctor WeChat group to answer residents’ vaccination questions online.