In a recent poll, 46 percent of Chinese respondents looked favorably on vaccination against COVID-19 and they plan to get one. About 36 percent said they would wait and see.

China Daily released the poll on Chinese social medial platform Sina Weibo on Saturday. A total of 6,788 netizens had taken the survey so far. Some 18 percent said they would refuse a vaccine.

Many expressed confidence with the Chinese-made vaccines in the online comments left by respondents.

The hottest comment said that some side effects occurring in foreign countries' vaccination led to the wait-and-see attitude. Also, some choosing wait and see said in the comments that they think the risk of infection in the country is low due to effective prevention and control.

As for the price of the vaccine, some said they would be willing to pay if the price is reasonable or if health insurance can cover it.

A woman working at an agriculture market commented that she had already signed up to be vaccinated, according to a Weibo user's comment.

China will start nationwide emergency vaccinations for people at high risk of contracting the novel coronavirus — part of a larger effort to achieve nationwide mass inoculation step by step, the National Health Commission said.

In a streamed interview on CCTV on Monday, Zhang Wenhong, head of Shanghai's team of clinical experts, projected that the urgency of vaccination will gradually reveal itself in the second half of next year.

"At that time, the connections between countries will ramp up because of lower infection risk, and China will face increasing risks from overseas," Zhang said.

He said that vaccination is a combination of rights and obligations.

"People tend to regard vaccination as one way to protect themselves from the coronavirus, while the risk of infecting others will not increase without a vaccination," Zhang said.

He added that China's reopening to the world will be undermined if universal access to vaccines is not ensured.

Zhou Jiaxin contributed to the story.