Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, December 2nd question: Is it necessary for the elderly to be vaccinated?
——Response from the National Bureau of Disease Control and Prevention
Xinhua News Agency reporter
Recently, the Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism of the State Council issued the "Work Plan for Strengthening the New Coronary Virus Vaccination of the Elderly", deploying to further accelerate the promotion of the New Coronary Virus Vaccination of the Elderly.
Is it necessary for the elderly to be vaccinated?
Are there any more convenient measures to facilitate the vaccination of the elderly?
What is the current vaccination status of the elderly in my country?
In response to public concerns about the vaccination of the elderly against the new crown virus, the reporter interviewed Xia Gang, director of the Department of Health and Immunization of the National Bureau of Disease Control and Prevention.
1. Question: The public is concerned. The elderly at home are over 80 years old and rarely go out. Is it necessary to get vaccinated?
Answer: The work plan proposes to accelerate the increase in the vaccination rate of people over 80 years old, and continue to increase the vaccination rate of people aged 60-79.
We found in the grassroots research that the elderly who have not yet been vaccinated often have three situations: first, they have insufficient awareness of the risk of infection with the new coronavirus, and feel that their daily activities are limited and they have fewer opportunities to be exposed to the virus; Diseases, worry about abnormal reactions to vaccination, and have concerns about vaccination; third, some elderly people are disabled or semi-disabled, so they feel that vaccination is inconvenient.
In response to these three problems, the State Council's joint prevention and control mechanism has introduced some measures, the most important of which is to raise awareness of vaccination among the general public and the elderly.
The elderly have more basic diseases. If they are infected with the new coronavirus, they are at greater risk of developing severe illness, critical illness or even death. Therefore, the elderly benefit the most from vaccination against the new coronavirus.
Vaccines are safe and effective.
We sincerely appeal to all elderly friends to take action as soon as possible and actively vaccinate against the new crown virus to protect their health.
2. Question: What are the more convenient measures to facilitate the vaccination of the elderly?
Answer: The "Work Plan for Strengthening the New Coronary Virus Vaccination of the Elderly" has been deployed and promoted in terms of improving the mechanism, doing a good job of finding out, optimizing services, and refining publicity.
In terms of optimizing vaccination services, the temperature and convenience of vaccination services will be further improved.
On the basis of previous experience, we will continue to open green channels for vaccination of the elderly.
At the same time, temporary vaccination points and mobile vaccination vehicles are set up to facilitate vaccination of the elderly.
For some disabled and semi-disabled elderly, medical staff with rich experience in diagnosis, treatment and vaccination will be arranged to provide vaccination services for elderly friends at home, and good and warm working services will be used to reassure the elderly about vaccination.
In addition, the medical staff will patiently answer the questions of elderly friends during the vaccination process, and will evaluate the health status of the elderly to ensure the safety of the vaccination.
3. Question: What is the current vaccination status of the elderly in my country?
What are the priorities for the next step?
Answer: The overall situation of the vaccination of the elderly in my country is not bad, but there are differences in different age groups. The vaccination rate of the elderly over 80 years old is not very high.
Therefore, on the one hand, it is necessary to increase the vaccination rate of the elderly as a whole, and on the other hand, it is necessary to focus on promoting and increasing the vaccination rate of the elderly over 80 years old.
As of November 28, 90.68% of the elderly over the age of 60 in my country have been vaccinated against the new crown virus vaccine, and 86.42% have completed the full vaccination.
The full vaccination rate of the new coronavirus vaccine for the elderly over 80 years old in my country is 65.8%.
In the next step, we will conscientiously implement the requirements of the plan, guide the careful organization and deployment of various regions, optimize vaccination services, and do a good job in strengthening the immunization of the new crown virus vaccine and the vaccination of the elderly.