Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu on Friday called on the public to get vaccinated as early as possible for better protection before the winter influenza season.
The CE made the call when he led the principal officials to receive seasonal influenza vaccination (SIV). They also received the COVID-19 booster shots at the same time.
"Vaccination is one of the most effective means for preventing seasonal influenza and its complications, as well as reducing the risk of hospitalization and death arising from influenza," Lee said, emphasizing the importance of building an immunity barrier in the community together.
Through the concerted efforts of various stakeholders in the community under the government's leadership, a record-high of more than 2.09 million doses of SIV were administered under various government vaccination programs in the 2024-25 season, representing a nearly 12-percent increase compared to the 2023-24 season, the government said in a statement.
The number of severe influenza cases and the influenza mortality rates among adults and children in the previous influenza season declined significantly compared to earlier periods, in particular those before the COVID-19 epidemic, according to the statement.
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To encourage and offer convenience to members of the public to receive SIV, the government will implement five optimization initiatives this year – expanding the eligibility coverage, further enhancing the SIV school outreach program, providing recombinant influenza vaccines for the elderly living in institutions, launching the pilot scheme on vaccine procurement for family doctors, and optimizing information dissemination.
The government will also continue implementing the Civil Service Eligible Persons SIV Pilot Scheme this year since civil servants frequently interact with members of the public.
Secretary for Health Lo Chung-mau said various SIV programs commenced fully on Thursday to provide free or subsidized SIV services to eligible individuals.
"Among these are the Vaccination Subsidy Scheme (VSS), including the pilot scheme on vaccine procurement for family doctors which was newly introduced this year. The VSS has also been advanced by three days and launched on September 22,” Lo said.
The scheme involves an additional procurement of 100,000 doses of injectable inactivated influenza vaccines by the government, enabling eligible family doctors to order vaccines from suppliers at a price according to government-subsidized programs, he added.
