An official in China recently announced plans to have 1.1 billion citizens vaccinated by the end of October, claiming the target was approved by Chinese leader Xi Jinping, according to state-run media. There will be “vaccination coverage for one billion people by the end of August and 1.1 billion by the end of October,” said Qin Weiguo, mayor of Huaibei municipal government of China’s central Anhui Province. Qin made the statement after a provincial video conference with provincial leadership on Aug. 19, according to a report by Huaibei Daily the following day. The report has since been deleted from the internet. Beijing’s epidemiologist Zhong Nanshan said last week that China is expected to reach 80 percent vaccination coverage by the end of the year, achieving “herd immunity,” echoing the data released by Qin. Yet China experts said such goal-setting would build up “political pressure” and change the nature of the country’s supposed …