<div style="text-align: justify; "><span style="font-size: 1rem;"><b>Faced with unprecedented protests against Covid restrictions, the Chinese authorities have said they are ramping up their vaccination campaign among the elderly.</b></span><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">The relatively low rate of vaccination for older people is a major obstacle to China relaxing its zero-Covid strategy.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><b>How many older people are vaccinated?</b></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">China has acknowledged it has relatively low rates of Covid vaccination among the elderly, who are most likely to get seriously ill or die from the virus compared with younger age groups.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">In April this year, official data showed that only about 20% of over-80s had received two jabs plus a booster, while under 50% of the 70-79 age group fell into this category.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">The latest figures from the Chinese authorities, released as lockdown protests erupted across the country, suggest a marked jump in these over-80s vaccination rates to about 40% fully vaccinated with a booster.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">These Chinese vaccination rates for the elderly are significantly lower than, for example, those in the US and UK.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Figures from the UK in November indicate that about 80% of people aged 80 or above (living in England) had received a booster jab in the previous three months.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">China has also announced a plan to increase vaccination rates among the elderly.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">It is also reported to have set a goal of getting 90% of the over-80s to either complete the initial two-dose vaccination course or get a booster jab by the end of January.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><b>Why are more older people not vaccinated?</b></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">The head of China's Covid expert panel, Prof Liang Wannian, has told the BBC that vaccine hesitancy among the elderly is one issue.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">"Many old people have underlying diseases. They reckon it won't be safe to get vaccinated. But in fact, it is safe." he said.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Unlike in other countries which targeted the elderly first, China prioritised the working-age population when it started its vaccine rollout at the end of 2020.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">It also tested its vaccines outside China in countries with much younger populations - and initially told its own elderly population there was not enough data on the effectiveness and safety of the vaccines to recommend they receive them.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Community health infrastructure is also vital to vaccine rollouts, says Prof George Liu, of La Trobe University in Melbourne. He says this is lacking for the elderly in China.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">"Unlike planned immunisation for children, community health facilities don't have a full name list and schedules for the elderly, and they don't have an existing process to ensure proper vaccination coverage for them."</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Faith in locally-made vaccines has also been dented by a series of health scandals in recent years. These include safety issues and production standards for rabies jabs, as well as for diphtheria and tetanus.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><b>Are Chinese-made vaccines effective?</b></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">China has developed and produced its own vaccines, which use an inactivated form of the virus to train the body to fight the whole virus.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><b>Why has China not used Western vaccines?</b></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">In the early stages of vaccine rollout during the pandemic, China made great play about its own production efforts.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Last year, it claimed to have made half of the world's existing stock of Covid vaccines.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">So it is not surprising that it has been reluctant to use vaccines developed elsewhere.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Germany has urged China to consider using Western-developed mRNA vaccines. These are currently difficult to obtain in China, and only made available to foreign residents.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">China is believed to be developing its own vaccine using mRNA vaccine technology, but it is not clear when this might be available. BBC</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd24/kh</div>