appConfigEntityId

bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

isVideo

articlePageQuery

article

articleSchemaContent

content

hooksArticlePageAdvertisementConfigArticle

hooksArticlePageFloatingButtonConfigArticle

appConfig

filter

json

liveArticle

Kate Zhang

Elderly people over 60 who refuse to get a Covid-19 vaccine will not have their basic medical insurance suspended, a local government in China’s port city of Wenzhou has clarified, after a notice from community officials sparked alarm.
Residents of the community in Wenzhou’s Kunyang town had been notified that, unless they had hospital certificates to exempt them, unvaccinated elderly people would be barred from public spaces like supermarkets, the Beijing-based China News Weekly reported on Wednesday.
Moreover, their basic medical insurance would be suspended, as would benefits such as living allowances and severe disability payouts, the state-run magazine said in its report.
The Chinese government provides basic medical insurance for both urban and rural residents, including health coverage for minors and people without jobs.
“This rule is mandatory, but our intentions are good,” the magazine quoted a staff member of the Kunyang epidemic prevention and control office as saying. “We want everyone to be healthy.”


However, in a statement issued on Thursday, the local government of the town in eastern Zhejiang province said there was no such policy, and community officials had no right to suspend residents’ insurance benefits.
The notice had been a “misreading by individual community officials” who have since been “severely reprimanded and educated”, the statement said.
Chinese social media users reacted with anger and scepticism.
“If you use words like ‘misreading’ to explain [the issue], then the standard of grass-roots officials is really worrying. How do people who can’t even read the spirit of documents get into management positions?” wrote one user on Weibo, China’s Twitter-like platform.

“Here we go, it’s all a misunderstanding. If a report comes out and you get scolded then it’s all a misunderstanding,” another said.
A staff member of the Kunyang epidemic prevention office told the Post on Thursday that the local government did not have a policy of punishing unvaccinated elderly people, but community leaders may have promoted such a policy to encourage people to get vaccinated.
Vaccination is voluntary in China, but the government has been strongly encouraging residents, especially the vulnerable elderly, to get their Covid-19 shots. Some local governments have even resorted to mandatory quotas to boost uptake among over-60s, making it the task of officials to convince the elderly to get vaccinated.
Beijing city offers elderly Covid vaccine insurance
As of May 5, more than 36 million residents over 60 were yet to be vaccinated, representing nearly 14 per cent of the age group, according to National Health Commission data.
Among older groups, the rates are even lower: only 51 per cent of over-80s were fully vaccinated as of mid-March, with just 20 per cent of them having received a booster shot.
Older people generally have inherently weaker immune systems, and most have various underlying diseases, raising their risk of serious illness and death from Covid-19.


Hong Kong’s Peninsula Hotels sees ‘bleisure’ boom after pandemic curbs, CEO says

US could require US$15,000 bonds for some tourist, business visas

China’s Shenzhen, Guangzhou airports hit record highs, surpass pre-Covid passenger levels

Landmark US Chinatown survived Covid, anti-Asian violence – but tariffs pose new threat

Coronavirus pandemic

Coronavirus: China’s ‘no jab, no insurance’ notice for over-60s blamed on misreading of policy

Nearly 14 per cent of over-60s in China have yet to get vaccinated against Covid-19. Photo: Reuters

Elderly residents wait to collect their pensions as banking services reopen following a lockdown in Beijing. Photo: AP 

Coronavirus: Shanghai’s community infections return a day after formal lockdown exit, sending some areas back into quarantine

A crowded platform at the People’s Park station of Shanghai’s subway network after the city’s two-month long lockdowns ended on June 1, 2022. Photo: Reuters

People line up to take Covid-19 tests outside a park in Shanghai, on Wednesday, June 1, 2022. Photo: Bloomberg

Coronavirus: China and Western Australia hailed as pandemic refuges despite lacking geographic advantage

People spend time at a riverside park in Shanghai on Wednesday after the city’s long Covid-19 lockdown was lifted. Photo: Reuters

A woman jogs in Perth, Western Australia, on June 29, 2021, as several positive Covid-19 coronavirus cases led to a four-day lockdown of the metropolitan area. Photo: AFP

China coronavirus: Shanghai restrictions caused ‘more severe economic hit’ than previous lockdowns

Shanghai reopened after two months of lockdown on Wednesday, but the economic effects are still being felt across the Yangtze River Delta. Photo: AFP

Coronavirus: jabs scheduled in Hong Kong care homes to boost vaccination rates among elderly

Vaccination take-up among Hong Kong’s elderly population has been sluggish. Photo: Winson Wong

News

China

Politics

Coronavirus

Greater China


‘Our intentions are good,’ Kunyang town health official told Beijing-based magazine
No such policy is in force and community officials have no right to suspend insurance benefits, local government says



No such policy is in force and community officials have no right to suspend insurance benefits, local government says.


Coronavirus China

Coronavirus pandemic: All stories