BEIJING (AP) — Chinese authorities are going door to door paying people over 60 to get vaccinated against COVID-19. But even as cases increaseLi Liansheng, 64, said his friends were alarmed by stories of fevers, blood clots and other side effects.
“When people hear about such incidents, they may not be willing to take the vaccines,” said Li, who had been vaccinated before catching COVID-19. A few days after his 10-day battle with the virus, Li is nursing a sore throat and a cough. He said it was like a “normal cold” with a slight fever.
China has joined other countries in dealing with cases instead of trying to eradicate transmission of the virus by scrapping or relaxing rules on testing, quarantines and travel as it attempts to reverse an economic crisis. But the change flooded hospitals with feverish, wheezing patients.
The National Health Commission announced a campaign in November. 29 to increase the vaccination rate of elderly Chinese, which health experts say is crucial to averting a health care crisis. It’s also the biggest hurdle before the ruling Communist Party can lift the last of the world’s toughest virus restrictions.
China has kept case numbers low for two years with a “zero-COVID” strategy that has isolated cities and confined millions to their homes. Now as it is abandon this approachit faces the generalized epidemics that other countries have already experienced.
The health commission has recorded just six deaths from COVID-19 this month, bringing the country’s official toll to 5,241. This is despite multiple reports from families of dead relatives.
China only counts deaths from pneumonia or respiratory failure in its official COVID-19 toll, a health official said last week. This unusually narrow definition excludes many deaths that other countries would attribute to COVID-19.
Experts predict 1-2 million deaths in China until the end of 2023.
Li, who was exercising on the leafy grounds of the Temple of Heaven in central Beijing, said he was considering getting a second booster due to the ad campaign: “As long as we know the vaccine won’t cause of significant side effects, we should take it.”
Neighborhood committees that form the lowest level of government have been ordered to find all people aged 65 and over and monitor their health. They do what state media calls the “ideological work” of pressuring residents to persuade elderly relatives to get vaccinated.
In Beijing, the Chinese capital, the Liulidun district promises people over 60 up to 500 yuan ($70) to complete a two-dose vaccination course and a booster.
The National Health Commission announced in December. 23 the number of people vaccinated daily more than doubled to 3.5 million nationwide. But that’s still only a small fraction of the tens of millions of vaccines given every day at the start of 2021.
Older people are put off by potential side effects from Chinese-made vaccines, for which the government has not announced test results on people in their 60s and older.
Li said a 55-year-old friend suffered from fever and blood clots after being vaccinated. He said they couldn’t be sure the hit was to blame, but his friend is reluctant to get another one.
It is also said the the virus continues to mutatesays Li. “How do we know if the vaccines we take are helpful?
Some are reluctant because they suffer from diabetes, heart problems and other health complications, despite warnings from experts that it is even more urgent for them to get vaccinated as the risks of COVID-19 are higher. serious than the potential side effects of the vaccine in almost everyone.
A 76-year-old man taking his daily walk around the Temple of Heaven using a stick said he wanted to be vaccinated but suffered from diabetes and high blood pressure. The man, who would only give his last name, Fu, said he wore masks and tried to avoid crowds.
Older people also felt little urgency because the low number of cases before the latest outbreak meant that few people were at risk of infection. However, this earlier lack of infections has left China with few people who have developed antibodies against the virus.
“Now families and relatives of the elderly should make it clear to them that infection can lead to serious illness and even death,” said Jiang Shibo of Fudan University Medical School in Shanghai.
More than 90% of people in China have been vaccinated, but only about two-thirds of those over 80, according to the National Health Commission. According to its 2020 census, China has 191 million people aged 65 and over, a group that alone would be the eighth most populous country, ahead of Bangladesh.
“Coverage rates for people over the age of 80 need further improvement,” Shanghai newspaper The Paper said. “The elderly are at high risk.
Du Ming’s son arranged to have the 100-year-old vaccinated, according to his caretaker, Li Zhuqing, who was pushing a face-mask-wearing Du through a park in a wheelchair. Li was okay with this approach because none of the family members were infected, meaning they would be more likely to bring the disease back to Du if they were exposed.
Health officials have refused journalists’ requests to visit vaccination centers. Two who briefly entered the centers were ordered to leave when staff found out who they were.
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AP researcher Yu Bing and video producers Olivia Zhang and Wayne Zhang contributed.
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