BEIJING -- As of 4 pm Wednesday, more than 2 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines had been administered in Beijing to the city's children aged between 3 and 11, local authorities said Thursday.

Starting from Oct 28, the Chinese capital began offering COVID-19 vaccination to children aged between 3 and 11. Nearly 1.37 million minors of this age group have been vaccinated.

Children between 3 and 11 can only be inoculated under the condition that their guardians have been well-informed and offer their voluntary consent.

Starting in mid-October this year, besides Beijing, a growing number of Chinese provincial-level regions including Hubei and Liaoning have expanded their COVID-19 vaccination programs to cover children from the age of 3, rather than limiting vaccination to those aged 12 and above, as was previously the case.