For more than a year, Mr Jin (68), a retired salesperson from Beijing, refused to be vaccinated against Covid. He didn’t trust the vaccine, and it seemed useless to him: by the time he was vaccinated, that virus had changed again. But today he still got his first shot. The reason: His son saw an ad that promised people over 60 two free tickets to Universal Studios amusement park in exchange for vaccination.
“My son called me and asked me to come,” Jin says outside the gate of the vaccination center, where posters with many exclamation points announce the action. In addition to two tickets, worth 150 euros together, people in their sixties who are vaccinated can also opt for a package with milk, oil and 60 euros in discount coupons and food. Jin remains laconic about it. “If my son hadn’t insisted, I wouldn’t have done it.”
Box of eggs
Jin has chosen his injection site well. Actions have started all over China to encourage older people to get vaccinated, but few can match the expensive amusement park tickets. Some vaccination centers promise a carton of eggs, a five-litre bottle of oil or a chicken in exchange for a first shot or booster, others offer cash prizes (from 7 to 43 euros) or discount coupons (up to 115 euros). And here and there the first reports of forced vaccinations are emerging.
Puncture is a priority, as China faces a major omikron outbreak and many cities are weighed down by heavy restrictions. In Shanghai, the lockdown is so rigid that many residents struggle to get food, and the economy has come to a standstill. There are protests on social media, but the Chinese government is sticking to the zero-covid policy. The vaccination rate among the elderly in China is so low that Beijing fears that omikron could also lead to large deaths.
The overall vaccination rate in China is quite high – 88 percent are double vaccinated – but declines with age. Of the people over eighty, 55 percent have been fully vaccinated, and 20 percent received a booster. As a result, while zero-covid countries such as Australia, New Zealand and Singapore relax the rules, China is stuck in its strict policy. Where the Chinese population long saw the benefits – few sick, hardly any deaths, reasonable economic growth – there is now an increasing lack of understanding.
puncture fear
The needlestick fear among Chinese elderly people arose at the start of the vaccination campaign, when people over 60 were barred from vaccination. Beijing first wanted to immunize the working population, because they would be most at risk of infection. This led to a lot of mistrust among the elderly. “First they said the vaccine was not for people over 60, now they ask everyone over 60 to get vaccinated,” says Jin. “Why the change?”
The uncertainty was also caused by the lack of transparency surrounding Chinese vaccines, which seemed to have barely been tested on the elderly. Western vaccines are not allowed in China. In China, people over 60 with underlying conditions were told by their doctors and neighborhood committees (responsible for vaccinations) that they had better fit for the vaccine. Why take the risk of side effects if the chance of covid in China was negligible after all?
‘In our neighborhood there are two elderly people with heart problems and high blood pressure,’ says Lan (62), a neighbor of the vaccination center where Jin has just been vaccinated. She was vaccinated herself last year. “Those two went to the neighborhood committee several times to get vaccinated, but the doctor wouldn’t allow it. I’m telling you: 90 percent of the elderly who don’t get vaccinated do so because of underlying diseases. They will not come for the sake of a reward.’
Research
Recent research shows that Chinese vaccines perform better than originally thought. Sinovac was found to be 77 percent effective against death in Hong Kong over 60s after two doses (lower than Pfizer-BioNTech), and 98 percent after a booster (comparable). Sinopharm was found to be 84 percent effective against death after two doses in Argentina’s over-60s, but those numbers date back to the Delta era. The number of side effects is limited.
‘Sinovac’s practical results are better than expected,’ says Jin Dongyan, a virologist at the University of Hong Kong. ‘But the decision at the beginning to pass the elderly has created a lot of uncertainty and doubt. It is difficult to reverse that image now, and the government does little to explain it properly.’ The lack of transparency of the Chinese government is now taking its revenge: even if the results of the vaccines are good, many do not dare to believe them.
Propaganda Campaign
For the time being, the rewards seem to convince few older people. Journalists are not allowed inside the amusement park ticket vaccination center, but according to Jin there were only a handful of elderly people. And so a propaganda campaign has begun: state media praise the vaccine’s safety, banners call for civic pride, and doctors are now confidently recommending the vaccine. If something does go wrong, the responsibility does not lie with them, but with the government.
If that doesn’t work, there are still plenty of ways to force the elderly to vaccinate. Examples of this are already popping up here and there. In Puning, a city in Guangdong, teachers have been instructed to nominate two people over 60 each for vaccination. Schools that do not meet their quotas will be cut in their resources. In the village of Huangpo, also in Guangdong, unvaccinated residents no longer receive government permits. In a neighborhood in Fujian, they are no longer allowed to enter their house.
It is repression the Chinese way: indirect and masked, imposed through procedures and quotas, and outsourced to the local level, so that the national government in Beijing remains unaffected and the chance of resistance remains small. Jin also sees the storm coming. “So far it’s voluntary, but I’ve heard it’s mandatory in other places,” he says. ‘I have some friends in Xinjiang. They were surprised when they heard that I hadn’t been vaccinated yet. That is not allowed with them.’