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Beijing, China
The public health workers in Bejing are the least willing to get the COVID-19 vaccine in comparison to their peers in China, according to a recent survey conducted by the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention.
Less than 74 per cent of the staff CDC staff in Bejing is willing to get inoculated voluntarily, as per the poll. However, in other areas such as Shandong, Sichuan and Hubei provinces the rate is much higher.
The city has seen some of the toughest pandemic control measures in China, with domestic travellers often required to present negative test results on arrival.
As per the survey, the higher the level of education, the less willing the researchers at CDCâs National Immunisation Programme were to get the jab.
The poll led by Kong Qingfu from the programme published in the Chinese Journal of Vaccines and Immunisation, âCDC staff are a key target population for Covid-19 vaccination due to their high risk of infection.''
The survey suggested that the Chinese government should ''promote knowledge about novel coronavirus vaccines and strengthen understanding and confidence in vaccination programmes among CDC staff.''
The research team found that most CDC staff, including those in Beijing, had a clear idea about the severity of the disease and were concerned about exposure, and they also had confidence in the safety and efficacy of the vaccines.
Over 3,000 public health care workers from all across China participated in the poll. But only 79 per cent of those surveyed believed the vaccines could bring the pandemic under control.
China aims to vaccinate 40 per cent of its population against COVID-19 by the end of July, a senior health adviser told Reuters on Tuesday, requiring a significant increase in inoculations even as it ramps up exports of vaccines.
Zhong Nanshan, a coronavirus expert who helped shape China's COVID-19 response, said on Monday the current ratio of vaccine doses administered per 100 people in China is 3.56, much lower than those in Israel, United Arab Emirates and the United States.
In an online forum held by China's Tsinghua University and the Washington-based Brookings Institution on Monday, Zhong said the target was 40 per cent by the end of June, citing his contacts at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
China, which has approved four locally developed coronavirus vaccines for use on the general public, had administered 52.52 million doses as of Feb. 28, Zhong said.
Authorities had aimed to vaccinate 50 million people before the Lunar New Year in February, official media outlet Global Times reported in January.
Sinovac Biotech's vaccine has been used in mass vaccination drives in Brazil, Turkey and Indonesia. CanSino Biologics Inc has agreed to supply millions of doses to Mexico.