Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor speaks during a news conference in the city on April 4, 2022. (PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

HONG KONG – Residents who are 60 or older are encouraged to receive the fourth dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, and a door-to-door vaccination program for homebound residents is expected to launch in late April. 

Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor made the announcement on Friday at her daily news conference on anti-pandemic measures. 

Patrick Nip Tak-kuen, secretary for the Civil Service of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government, said at the briefing that getting the fourth dose of either the Sinovac or BioNTech vaccines three months after the previous shot will enhance immunization against the coronavirus. 

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The Home Vaccination Service will spare older adults and people with an illness and disability the trouble of walking a long distance to get their shots

The reason that older adults are being advised to get a fourth inoculation is that residents 60 and older have accounted for over 90 percent of the COVID-19 deaths during the fifth wave of the pandemic, Food and Health Secretary Sophia Chan Siu-che said. There are currently no plans to extend this advice to include all residents, she added. 

For the vulnerable and incapacitated residents who need a vaccination, door-to-door inoculation service will be available by the end of April. The government has run the plan as a pilot program before it officially comes into effect. As of Thursday, 19 eligible residents from sealed-off buildings had been vaccinated at their doorsteps, Nip said. 

The Home Vaccination Service will spare older adults as well as people with an illness and disability the trouble of walking a long distance to get their shots. 

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Experts say the boosted vaccination rate among older adults and the disabled will ultimately help Hong Kong curb the spread of the coronavirus and keep the death toll in check.