Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Public Health and Surveillance
Date Submitted: Sep 10, 2021
Open Peer Review Period: Sep 9, 2021 - Nov 4, 2021
Date Accepted: Apr 26, 2022
Date Submitted to PubMed: Apr 28, 2022
(closed for review but you can still tweet)
The provision of COVID-19 vaccines developed in China to other countries: A cross-sectional online survey on the views of the Chinese public
ABSTRACT
Background:
COVID-19 vaccines are in short supply globally. China was among the first countries to pledge supplies of the COVID-19 vaccine as a global public product, and to date the country has provided more than 600 million vaccines to more than 200 countries and regions with low COVID-19 vaccination rates. To date, however, no research has determined public attitudes within China regarding global vaccine assistance, although such perspectives could inform global and national decisions, policies and debates.
Objective:
The aim of this study was to learn the attitudes of adults living in China regarding global allocation of Chinese COVID-19 vaccines, and to determine variation in attitudes across provinces and by sociodemographic characteristics within China.
Methods:
A cross-sectional online survey were conducted in China where participants were asked 31 questions on their attitudes regarding global allocation of ChineseCOVID-19 vaccines. We disaggregated responses by sociodemographic characteristics. All analyses used survey sampling weights.
Results:
A total of 10,000 participants completed the questionnaire. Participants generally favored providing COVID-19 vaccines to foreign countries before fully fulfilling domestic needs (75.6%, 95% CI: 74.6%-76.5%), and of the participants, this was applied especially to those who were female, in the youngest age group, and living in a rural area. Most respondents preferred providing financial support through international platforms rather than directly offering support to individual countries (72.1%, 95% CI: 71.0%-73.1%), providing vaccine products directly to relevant countries instead of via a delivery platform such as COVAX (77.3%, 95% CI: 76.3%-78.2%).
Conclusions:
This finding has important policy implications for current global COVID-19 vaccine delivery and allocation work. This research provides evidence for global policy makers such as the WHO to encourage and call on more countries to provide vaccine assistance in the name of public support. Meanwhile, similar surveys should be conducted in more countries. If the public supports the international assistance or export of COVID-19 vaccines, politicians may feel encouraged to stop stockpiling vaccines.
Citation
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