Nationalism, conspiracy theories and vaccine mandates: Exploring the statism determinants for attitudes to COVID-19 control in China

Understanding the Factors Driving Consumers' Willingness to Pay for Gene-Edited Foods in China

Gene editing contributes to enhancing food security through the creation of novel foods. However, public perception of gene-edited (GE) foods is crucial to their acceptance and adoption. This study expanded the knowledge-attitude-practice model and constructed an integrated framework comprising four dimensions: demographic factors, scientific literacy and beliefs, social trust, and perceptions of gene technology, aimed at explaining the public's attitudes toward GE foods. A questionnaire survey was conducted (N = 649), revealing a positive attitude toward GE foods, with over 80% expressing a certain willingness to pay (WTP) for them. Factors such as income level, subjective knowledge, scientific beliefs, trust in scientists, trust in government, and trust in national technological capabilities and perceived benefits positively correlated with WTP. Conversely, objective knowledge, perceived risks, and perceived ethical concerns were negatively correlated with WTP. The impact of objective knowledge on attitudes toward GE foods demonstrated a significant, nonlinear relationship. Additionally, it is noteworthy that the Chinese public currently exhibits relatively low trust in national technological capabilities, necessitating vigilance against the emergence of conspiracy theories akin to those surrounding genetically modified foods. This research contributes theoretical insights into the public communication of GE foods.

The Politicization of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Political actors and institutions are largely responsible for effectively implementing the latest scientific and medical information in the form of public health measures. However, when politicians' judgments and decision-making are not founded on scientific facts or when scientific findings are misrepresented to further political goals, global crises such as pandemics may be even more galvanized. Like other scientific topics that entered public debate before 2020 (e.g., the debate on climate change), the COVID-19 pandemic has been heavily politicized worldwide. Consequently, COVID-19-related outcomes were strongly affected by politicization-a process of making a non-political issue political, i.e., debating it in the public sphere as an issue of public contestation. The present chapter presents a condensed overview and synthesis of the literature on the politicization of the COVID-19 pandemic in high- and low-income countries. In addition, we discuss several mechanisms explaining why, to some extent universally, conservatives (the right-wing oriented public) were less likely to follow public health recommendations, were more COVID-19 vaccine-hesitant, and had increased infection rates, poor health outcomes, and increased mortality compared to left-wing oriented public. The mechanisms explaining the links include the media, trust, cognitions, and values. We conclude the chapter with lessons learned during the COVID-19 pandemic and future research directions on the pandemics' politicization.

Unfolding COVID-19 vaccine communication campaigns in China's neighborhoods: a qualitative study of stakeholders' narratives

Introduction

The Chinese state has recently implemented the COVID-19 Vaccine Communication Campaign (CVCC) to counter vaccine hesitancy. Nonetheless, the extant literature that examines COVID-19 vaccine acceptance has less represented COVID-19 vaccine communication efforts.

Methods

To address this lacuna, we qualitatively explored how CVCCs were organized in Chinese communities by investigating 54 Chinese stakeholders.

Results

This study indicates that the CVCC was sustained by top-down political pressure. CVCCs' components involve ideological education among politically affiliated health workers, expanding health worker networks, training health workers, implementing media promotion, communicating with residents using persuasive and explanatory techniques, encouraging multistakeholder partnerships, and using public opinion-steered and coercive approaches. While CVCCs significantly enhanced COVID-19 vaccine acceptance, lacking open communication, stigmatizing vaccine refusers, insufficient stakeholder collaboration, and low trust in the COVID-19 vaccination program (CVP) eroded the validity of CVCCs.

Discussion

To promote the continuity of CVCCs in China, CVCC performers are expected to conduct open and inclusive communication with residents. Furthermore, CVP planers should create robust partnerships among health workers by ensuring their agreements on strategies for implementing CVCCs and optimize COVID-19 immunization service provision to depoliticize CVPs. Our study will not only deepen global audiences' understanding of CVCCs in authoritarian China but also offer potential neighborhood-level solutions for implementing local and global public health communication efforts.

Policy Endorsement and Booster Shot: Exploring Politicized Determinants for Acceptance of a Third Dose of COVID-19 Vaccine in China

China's recent termination of strict COVID-19 control necessitates taking a booster vaccine shot as a precaution against the pandemic as quickly as possible. A large body of research has examined people's attitudes toward and intentions for the booster shot. However, most studies failed to explore how China's sociopolitical context has shaped their attitude regarding the booster jab take-up. The current study utilizes data from a national survey adopting quota sampling to analyze the Chinese public's medical and non-medical considerations to determine their intention for the third dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. The study found that thanks to China's initial successful lockdown policies, personal risk and benefit perceptions did not dominate their views regarding booster vaccination. Instead, respondents' gender, nationalism, endorsement of the zero-COVID policy, self-efficacy regarding vaccination, and perceived infection severity were the major factors underlying their booster shot intention. The situation highlights how the politicized context of China's COVID-19 control has impacted people's plans to practice preventive behaviors. It is necessary to offset the negative consequences. One strategy is to educate the Chinese public with more medically relevant information to help them make rational choices regarding vaccination and other protective measures. On the other hand, such education can utilize this nationalistic mental status to enhance the persuasion effect.