China’s elderly holding out against vaccination drive

Seniors exercising in the morning ata park in Beijing. A survey of the elderly in China showed that those unvaccinated feel protection is unnecessary since they have limited exposure to Covid-19.

- Tan Dawn Wei China Bureau Chief

BEIJING As the Chinese health authorities speed up vaccinating the country’s elderly in order to loosen strict Covid-19 curbs that have battered the economy and sparked nationwide protests, they will have a hard time convincing someone like Madam Shao Yulan to take the shot.

The 84-year-old retired civil servant, who lives in Hegang city in the northern Heilongjiang province, is a die-hard hold-out against China’s national vaccination drive.

While the immunisation campaign using domestically produced inactivated vaccines was launched as early as July 2020, Beijing delayed including those aged 60 and over for about nine months, citing lack of data on efficacy and safety for the older set.

By the time it decided to extend the free voluntary jab to senior citizens, China had already controlled the pandemic through its strict but effective protocols of mask-wearing and lockdowns, including shutting its borders.

It also launched a successful propaganda campaign over its Covid-19 management, playing up its low death and infection figures against other countries, especially the United States.

Since the start of the pandemic, it has recorded about 5,000 deaths, while the US has had more than a million.

Madam Shao has hypertension and worries about side effects of the jab. And like many others, she insists there is little chance she will catch the virus because she hardly steps out of her home.

“My son usually buys groceries and my daily necessities for me, and he drives me to visit our relatives occasionally. I have no contact with strangers,” she said.