Leather works as well.  I recently replaced a cloth covered office type
chair with one covered in leather.  The cats and their claws were the
reason I had to replace the old chair - there wasn't much left of the
covering in some places.  They haven't put a single claw to the leather,
except that Fleagor has to scramble a bit to get on the top of the back
from the floor.

Not here.
We rent out our cats to the military to test out their newest anti-terrorist
attack alloys.
And they've never seemed to find anything those talons can't get through if
they put their minds to it.
A few hours of training them not to be mouse powered shredders, works
wonders.

In your case it may be simply that they don't like the smell of the vinyl
and just stay away.