Achilles' heel: elderly COVID-19 vaccination policy in China.
Health Res Policy Syst
; 22(1): 90, 2024 Aug 05.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-39103903
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Despite high overall COVID-19 vaccine coverage, the continuously low elderly vaccination rate in mainland China remains a dangerous threat as the country shifts away from its zero-Covid policy. This retrospective study uses the Multiple Streams Framework to examine how macro-level factors may explain poor elderly vaccination outcomes.METHODS:
We performed a thematic analysis of qualitative data obtained from 95 official press conferences from October 20, 2020, to February 27, 2023, vaccination-related policy documents, and media coverage, using both inductive and deductive coding approaches.RESULTS:
Our findings suggest that in the problem stream, elderly vaccination was not a "focusing event" during the initial vaccine rollout, resulting in delayed outreach to this population. Additionally, ideologically driven complacency and discrepancies in top-down implementation undermined elderly vaccination in the political stream. In the policy stream, precautious and ambiguous statements, inconsistent policy content, radical shifting media messages, and less age-friendly digital technologies also affected elderly vaccination.CONCLUSIONS:
The poor convergence of the three streams led the elderly to be the Achilles' heel of China's COVID-19 containment strategy. Future studies should focus on priority identification, adoption of enforcement measures, and timely and effective policy dissemination. The empirical lessons from China can inform and optimize elderly vaccination policy design and implementation in the post-pandemic era.Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Vacinação
/
Cobertura Vacinal
/
Vacinas contra COVID-19
/
SARS-CoV-2
/
COVID-19
/
Política de Saúde
Limite:
Aged
/
Aged80
/
Humans
País/Região como assunto:
Asia
Idioma:
En
Ano de publicação:
2024
Tipo de documento:
Article