China a global leader in support for Covid-19 vaccines: survey
- Almost 99 per cent of Chinese respondents said they had received or were willing to get a booster shot in international study
- But the results are in stark contrast to worryingly low vaccination rates among China’s elderly population
After
spending the past year trying to contain the highly transmissible
Omicron variant through lockdowns and mass testing, Chinese authorities
are again emphasising vaccination. Photo: AFP
People around the world have become more supportive of Covid-19 vaccines in the past year, with China the most accepting of booster shots according to a survey of 23 countries, and placing second after India in a general willingness to get jabbed.
The results are in contrast to the reality in China, where vaccination rates are worryingly low among the elderly, and reignited questions about the group’s low immunity, despite “high” public support for vaccines.
Researchers from the University of Barcelona, City University of New York, Georgetown University and the University of Malaya collected data from 23,000 respondents online – 1,000 in each of the countries across Asia, Africa, Europe and America – in June and July last year.
This is the third year of the study and the results, published in Nature Medicine on Monday, showed about 80 per cent of people worldwide are willing to accept vaccination, a rise of about 5 per cent from a year ago.
“Vaccination remains a cornerstone of the Covid-19 pandemic response, but broad public support remains elusive,” said the researchers, who assessed vaccine acceptance and hesitancy among parents and healthcare workers, as well as individuals, along with support for vaccination mandates.
“Vaccine hesitancy is a complex phenomenon. Drivers of vaccine hesitancy are context-specific and include lower education, mistrust in science and governments and misinformation,” the researchers said.
The vast majority of respondents from China – 96.6 per cent – indicated they have received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine or are willing to take one when it is available. The questionnaire did not specify the type of vaccine.
The finding – an increase of 9 per cent from a year ago – was the second highest among all countries surveyed, with 98.9 per cent of respondents in China indicating an acceptance to get a booster shot. However, the survey also found that women in China are particularly hesitant about vaccinations.
The study found growing hesitancy in eight countries, including South Africa and Ghana, which experienced the biggest change in attitudes, at around 21 and 14 per cent respectively.
China also stood out in last year’s results, before its emergence in December from zero-Covid restrictions and current waves of infections which are putting mounting pressure on hospitals and supplies of medication.
Despite the respondents’ eagerness for vaccination, China’s elderly vaccination rates remain low. Only 69.8 per cent of people aged 60 or over had received three doses, according to official statistics released in December. That figure falls to just 42.4 per cent for those aged 80 and over.
After spending the past year trying to contain the highly transmissible Omicron variant through lockdowns and mass testing, Chinese authorities are again emphasising vaccination.
About one-fifth of international respondents were still hesitant about vaccines, with the researchers finding that drivers of hesitancy are largely time and context specific.
The most common drivers in several countries were “mistrust of government and health authorities, concerns about vaccine safety and efficacy and, in some countries, age and minority race or ethnicity”, the paper said.
Another contributing factor was limited vaccination efficacy against the new circulating variants, with the survey finding 12 per cent of vaccinated people were hesitant or refused to receive a booster.
Globally, the researchers found booster hesitancy higher in younger age groups, while people who are less educated and with lower incomes are also more reluctant to get vaccinated.
The paper noted the “well-established and intuitively logical” fact that frequent exposure to misinformation increases vaccine hesitancy, while pandemic fatigue is an additional challenge for official Covid-19 sources like government health departments and the World Health Organization.
“As the pandemic continues, as new variants emerge, and as public compliance with public health and social measures wanes, it is clear that those responsible for public health programmes will need to develop more effective, personalised and sophisticated strategies to regain public attention and rebuild trust,” the researchers said.