People wearing face masks walk on a street in Hong Kong, July 12, 2022. (KIN CHEUNG / AP)

HONG KONG – The government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region said on Friday that it would commission 13 medical organizations to provide door-to-door vaccination services for elderly and other eligible residents to enhance service efficiency.

The Home Vaccination Service was launched in mid-April to provide the outreach service to elderly people aged 70 or above, people with a disability, and those with chronic illnesses incapable of going out to get jabbed.

The government expects the new arrangements to be more “flexible, thoughtful and efficient” with a more streamline workflow, said Secretary for the Civil Service Ingrid Yeung Ho Poi-yan

Under the new operation mode, the government will commission medical organizations for each and every district to provide through-train services. The medical organizations will be responsible for making phone calls to people registered for the service for arranging appointments, mapping the itinerary and providing door-to-door vaccination service, a government statement quoted Secretary for the Civil Service Ingrid Yeung Ho Poi-yan as saying.

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The government expects the new arrangements to be more “flexible, thoughtful and efficient” with a more streamline workflow, said Yeung.

More than 31,400 people have registered for the program since its launch this year. Nearly 1,700 outreach teams have been deployed to administer over 34,300 vaccine doses to elderly persons aged 70 or above and other eligible residents across the territory. 

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Starting from Aug 15, the government will inform registrants, by SMS notification or by post, on the name and the enquiry number of the medical organizations assigned to serve them. Members of the public are reminded that the vaccination service is free of charge and medical organizations should not be charging any fee.

Hong Kong on Friday reported 4,439 new COVID-19 infections, including 217 imported cases.

Chuang Shuk-kwan, head of the communicable disease branch of the Centre for Health Protection, said at a news briefing that of the 217 imported cases, 108 were confirmed at the airport, 95 at quarantine hotels, and 27 after they had finished their quarantine and got tested.

Thirty-five were from the United Kingdom, 28 from the United States, 22 from Thailand, 21 from India, and 14 each from the Philippines and Singapore.

Chuang added that four more patients infected with COVID-19 had passed away, bringing the tally since the fifth wave of the outbreak to 9,346.