It’s become a standard photo op of the pandemic: leaders rolling up their sleeves for COVID-19 shots to trumpet the advent of vaccines. Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu was one of the first, Joe Biden did it on live television, while Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s inoculation is being credited with reviving a lackluster rollout.
But despite being one of the first countries in the world to authorize vaccines for use, China has said nothing about the vaccination status of its top leaders, who all — including President Xi Jinping — appeared without face masks in Beijing on Friday, mingling with thousands of delegates from across China at the country’s biggest political gathering of the year.
While officials seated in the rows behind them were all masked, Xi and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang moved around the Great Hall of the People, where the National People’s Congress is opened every year, mask-free. The exception seemed to apply only to members of the Politburo and a handful of other top Communist Party leaders. Xi also went without a mask at last year’s NPC, seen as a statement on China’s virus success with the Wuhan outbreak largely quelled.