Chinese residents do not need to pay for COVID-19 vaccines or the service fees for the vaccination, a senior health official said on Saturday.

Li Tao, deputy director of the National Healthcare Security Administration, said as more COVID-19 vaccines receive conditional government approval, the costs for mass vaccination will be covered by the accumulated deposits of the medical insurance fund and the government's public finance.

The costs will not influence the current medical insurance fund or people using the fund for reimbursement of other diseases, she said at a news conference held by the State Council Information Office.

Zeng Yixin, vice-minister of the National Health Commission, said China has started offering free shots of COVID-19 vaccines among some key groups of individuals since Dec 15 and the costs have been covered by local governments.

Free vaccination means the vaccines are free and getting inoculated is also free, he said.

Several places had charged people for the vaccination and they have been asked by the Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism of the State Council to rectify the practice, he added.