China Pushes Elderly Vaccination as Reopening Pressure Grows
- Officials aim to promote shots harder, stop short of mandates
- Move comes days after protests erupted over Covid Zero curbs
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China said it would bolster vaccination among its senior citizens, a move regarded by health experts as crucial to reopening an economy stuck in an endless loop of harsh Covid Zero curbs. But it stopped short of announcing mandates that helped raise inoculation rates in other countries.
Instead, officials vowed to push shots harder in places like nursing centers, and make those unwilling to get inoculated provide a reason for their refusal, according to a statement Tuesday from the National Health Commission. The government will also use big data to identify elderly people who need the vaccine, the statement said.