China’s National Health Commission on Tuesday unveiled plans for covid-19 vaccination rates among the elderly, a cohort that remains highly vulnerable to the virus due to very low vaccine use, as it faces developing calls from experts to rethink its zero-covid strategy and reduce focus on serious lockdowns and repeated mass testing.
In its plan, China’s National Health Commission said it intends to succeed in the elderly by setting up vaccination centers in nursing homes, senior activity centers and other places frequented by the elderly.
Older people who refuse vaccination will need to provide an explanation of why and the government will need to keep a record of it.
The public fitness firm has also ordered local officials to access databases such as those that track social security, health insurance and residents’ fitness records to guide seniors well toward vaccinations.
Other plans outlined come with increased monitoring of potential adverse events and exposure of vaccine efficacy.
The announcement was well received in the markets, with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange’s Hang Seng Index jumping more than 5. 2% and the Shanghai Composite Index jumping more than 2. 3%.
New Covid-19 cases continue in China, which reported 38,645 new cases, either symptomatic or asymptomatic, on Tuesday, the fifth continuous day of more than 35,000 cases.
65,7 %. That’s the percentage of other people over 80 who were fully vaccinated in China, the state-run China Daily newspaper reported earlier this month. Only 40% of them gained reminders.
As daily Covid-19 cases hit new highs over the past week, the effectiveness of China’s 0 Covid strategy has been called into question. The government’s adherence to this strategy limited its attention to the implementation of strict participation measures and continued mass testing, which did not involve the expanding omicron variant. Experts have warned that the fast-spreading variant may temporarily overwhelm China’s fitness formula as vaccination rates among vulnerable teams remain low. Multiple points have contributed to low vaccination rates among the elderly, adding to China’s initial policy of restricting access to the vaccine to adults under 60 and general skepticism about efficacy and safety. Tuesday’s push to vaccinate the elderly may be just the first sign that China is looking to break the cycle of lockdowns and tests as public discontent against such measures continues to grow. Despite this, the government has moved to end all protests against its 0 Covid measures that broke out in major Chinese cities, including Beijing and Shanghai, over the weekend. The Zero Covid technique aims to eliminate the local spread of Covid through the use of strict lockdowns and repeated mass testing.
To avoid further protests against approval, many Chinese universities have asked their academics to leave their campuses and go home, The Associated Press reported. Universities and schools are at the epicenter of several nationwide protests, in which academics have criticized approval. and Chinese leader Xi Jinping as he called for more freedom. According to Reuters, some other people who participated in the protests are being questioned about their role. The protests are the biggest challenge Xi has faced in several years, after winning an unprecedented third term in office last month.
China pushes vaccination of the elderly as tension to reopen (Bloomberg)
How China’s zero-covid policy failed to save it from record infections and sparked rare protests (Forbes)
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