BEIJING -- Nearly 84.4 million children between 3 and 11 have been vaccinated against COVID-19 across China, and over 49.4 million among them have had booster shots, a health official said Saturday.

The health authorities will continue to promote vaccination in this age group, Wu Liangyou, an official with the National Health Commission (NHC), said at a press conference.

Wu added that all children between 3 and 11 without medical contraindications would likely complete vaccination by the end of this year.

Universities, middle schools, and primary schools are advancing vaccination based on unified deployment of the country, said Wang Dengfeng, an official with the Ministry of Education, noting that over 95 percent of Chinese students above 18 have received the COVID-19 vaccine.

More than 2.37 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines had been administered across China as of Friday, and nearly 1.074 billion people have completed vaccination, said the NHC.