Link to Article: https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/china-struggles-to-meet-targets-for-vaccination-without-making-it-mandatory
In Beijing various measures have been suggested that uncover the reality of the nation’s massive vaccination distribution. While China has insisted that getting vaccinated is entirely voluntary, changes will need to be made in order to get to the uphill task: 560 million people vaccinated by the end of June.
The National Health commission (NHC) announced on April 13th, over 175.6 million doses of various Covid-19 vaccines have been administered across China. Even with five vaccines having received emergency use approvals, a survey by Peking University, The Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the NHC found that only 23 percent of respondents want to get vaccinated as soon as possible once the virus was under control- down from 58 percent at the height of the outbreak last year.
In hope to meet China’s targets, the nation has mobilised its network of neighbourhood committes to encourage citizens to sign up as well as rolling out mobile vaccination clinics. Some local officials have offered free eggs or ice cream to those who get vaccinated or even helping elderly book appointments on their mobile phones. Others have been more forceful such as officials in Wanning which have threatened to blacklist unvaccinated individuals.
Part of the hesitation is due to lack of information. None of China’s five vaccines are on the World Health Organisation’s list of emergency-use vaccines. Preliminary data has suggested that some of the vaccines distributed have an efficacy between 50 and 80 percent. However, the head of China’s CDC, Gao Fu responded saying it was “a complete misunderstanding”.
Low efficacy of the Chinese Covid-19 vaccine shots could fuel concern about the global roll-out of the vaccine worldwide. As nations move forward, eager to leave the virus behind, scientists could look at China’s vaccine distribution with concern. Due to its high population and uphill tasks in meeting its target of vaccinating 40 percent of its population by end of June, leaving Covid-19 behind could be a challenge.
Will China seek outside help in hope to use higher-efficacy vaccines such as Moderna or Pfizer? Or perhaps outside nations will insist on exporting leftover vaccines to help the citizens of China feel confident in getting their Covid vaccination with the goal of getting the globe to permanently destroy the virus.