More than eight million Chinese people have been inoculated with the A/H1N1 flu vaccine as of Sunday noon, the Ministry of Health said in Beijing Sunday.

The vaccination campaign has been launched across the country targeting high risk groups, and more than 39 million doses of vaccines have been approved for use as of Sunday, according to the ministry.

As of Friday, nearly 55,000 confirmed A/H1N1 flu cases have been reported on the Chinese mainland, over 75 percent of whom have recovered. Among the 176 cases of serious condition, 52 have recovered, the ministry said.

Sixteen people on the Chinese mainland had died of the flu as of Friday, the ministry said.

The flu had entered a period featured by high frequency and quick increase in the number of infected cases in the country, and it could last through March next year, ministry experts warned earlier.

The capital Beijing made a decision on Friday to extend the vaccine inoculation to all the 16 million residents in the city.

China is the first country in the world to issue a production license for A/H1N1 vaccines.

(Xinhua News Agency November 9, 2009)