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Some 68.7 per cent of people in mainland China aged over 60 have had three Covid-19 shots, and authorities want more to get vaccinated. Photo: AFP

China in push to boost Covid-19 vaccination among elderly

  • Authorities aim to get more people aged 60 and over vaccinated in plan unveiled after protests broke out across the country
  • State media meanwhile sends message that rules should be refined in line with cabinet’s ‘20 measures’ – but zero-Covid is here to stay
China has unveiled a plan to boost vaccination rates among the elderly and tackle what is seen as a key barrier to reopening borders and reviving an economy hit by nearly three years of strict Covid-19 controls.

It aims to boost the vaccination rate for people aged 60 and above – particularly those over 80 – and reduce severe outcomes including death, amid a wave of new cases that shows no sign of slowing.

In a press conference in Beijing on Tuesday, top health officials also took aim at local governments for using blunt instruments to curb infections and being opaque with lockdown measures, without explicitly mentioning protests that have taken place across China against the zero-Covid policy.

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Protests flare across China over zero-Covid, lockdowns after deadly Urumqi fire

Protests flare across China over zero-Covid, lockdowns after deadly Urumqi fire

But state media sent an emphatic message on Tuesday, that while rules should be refined in line with the State Council’s “20 measures” announced earlier this month, it should not be seen as a relaxation or opening up – and that the zero-Covid policy is here to stay.

Days after the protests broke out, some local governments – such as those in Guangdong province – have relaxed their quarantine and lockdown policies in a move aiming to minimise impact on everyday life, apparently with Beijing’s blessing.

Mainland China is one of the last places still pursuing a zero-tolerance policy on Covid-19, which first emerged nearly three years ago in the city of Wuhan. Most other places have scrapped rules on quarantine, mask wearing and contact tracing to restart their economies after reaching herd immunity by mass infection or vaccination.

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“In the next step, we will seriously implement the requirements of the plan, guide local authorities to carefully organise, prepare and improve vaccination services, and do well to provide coronavirus booster shots and vaccination for the elderly,” said Xia Gang, deputy director of the Bureau of Disease Prevention and Control.

In mainland China, only 68.7 per cent of people over 60 have had three doses of a Covid-19 vaccine, official figures show. For those aged 80 and over, only 40.4 per cent have had three shots.

World Health Organization advisory group the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts has said it is good practice for older people and other vulnerable groups to receive two booster shots – which for most vaccination courses means a total of four shots – for the prevailing Omicron variant.

Social insurance data will be used to identify people aged over 60 to be included in the vaccination programme. Photo: EPA-EFE
The Chinese government plan aims to speed up vaccinations for older people with six combinations of Chinese-made vaccines, including those from pharmaceutical firms Sinopharm, Sinovac and CanSino Biologics. It has also reduced the waiting period from six to three months for a booster dose.

Authorities have stopped short of a vaccine mandate, but social insurance data will be used to identify people aged over 60 to be included in the programme, and a publicity campaign will be rolled out on the safety and effectiveness of the vaccines. The plan also calls for vaccinations to be administered at places where older people can access them, such as aged care homes.

Mainland China reported 34,860 new Covid-19 cases without symptoms in the community on Monday, and 3,561 with symptoms. The National Health Commission, China’s health ministry, does not count asymptomatic cases in its official tally.

The moving seven-day average of new local cases without symptoms is on the rise, indicating that the outbreak is worsening. The figure reached 31,705 on Monday, the highest in November.

While health officials at the press conference acknowledged the pressure on local officials to reduce the number of cases, they warned cadres that they would be held accountable if they continued to expand restrictions and did so without transparency.

“Continued expansion of restrictions needs to be rectified,” said Cheng Youquan, an inspection official at the Bureau of Disease Prevention and Control. “Local party committees and governments must carry out their responsibilities in their areas of jurisdiction and the national pandemic policy strictly.”

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Protesters around the world rally behind Covid demonstrators in China

Protesters around the world rally behind Covid demonstrators in China

Meanwhile, People’s Daily, Xinhua news agency and broadcaster CCTV were among the state media outlets that ran opinion pieces supporting the “20 measures” introduced on November 11.

People’s Daily described the new rules as less of a blunt instrument and essential to balancing pandemic control and development. But it also said they did not suggest relaxation, opening up or “lying flat” – meaning doing the bare minimum to get by.

“The 20 improvement measures are important in making pandemic control more scientific and precise. We must neither dial down strict prevention and control because of the 20 improvement measures nor pile measures on top of more measures, resort to one-size-fits-all or simplistic approaches.”

The Xinhua piece painted relaxed rules in some places as examples of “precise measures”, saying health authorities in Guangzhou no longer require people who stay at home to take part in mass testing, while in Chongqing residents of estates without cases are also exempt.

CCTV also said restrictions that went against the “20 measures” should be rectified and inconvenience in people’s lives should be reduced as much as possible.

From Beijing to Shanghai, Guangzhou, Nanjing and a slew of other mainland Chinese cities, people have taken to the streets to protest against strict Covid rules, triggered by a residential fire in Urumqi, in the western Xinjiang region, that killed 10 people and injured nine.

Urumqi residents protested over the city’s three-month lockdown, which many blamed for delaying firefighters. The city government then lifted restrictions in phases.

Many in major cities marched out of their housing estates, defying lockdowns imposed by residential committees that do not have the legal power to block residents from leaving their homes.

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