Beijing public health workers the least willing in China to get Covid-19 vaccine, survey finds

Less than 74 per cent of all CDC staff in the Chinese capital would get immunised voluntarily, according to poll

But the rate was nearly 90 per cent for their colleagues in other areas like Shandong, Sichuan and Hubei

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Researchers who carried out the survey concluded that the higher the education level of staff, the less willing they were to get vaccinated. Photo: Xinhua

Published: 6:00am, 4 Mar 2021Updated: 9:58am, 4 Mar 2021

Public health workers in Beijing are the least willing to get a coronavirus jab compared to their peers elsewhere in China, according to a survey by the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention.

It found that less than 74 per cent of all CDC staff in the capital would get vaccinated against Covid-19 voluntarily.

In other areas – such as Shandong, Sichuan and Hubei provinces – that rate was nearly 90 per cent.

Researchers with the CDC’s National Immunisation Programme, who conducted the survey, concluded that the higher the education level of staff, the less willing they were to get the jab.

People line up to get vaccinated in Beijing on Tuesday. China aims to inoculate 40 per cent of the population by July. Photo: Simon Song

“CDC staff are a key target population for Covid-19 vaccination due to their high risk of infection,” the research team, led by Kong Qingfu from the CDC programme, wrote in a paper published in the Chinese Journal of Vaccines and Immunisation on Tuesday.

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