A one-stop service covering a health talk, medical consultation and COVID-19 vaccination moved to Yuen Long District and Sai Kung District today (September 27).
Around 280 Yuen Long residents took part in a talk on the two COVID-19 vaccines, namely the Sinovac vaccine and the BioNTech vaccine, at Tin Fai Road Community Hall in Tin Shui Wai. Many attendants at the talk were elderly persons in their 80s or 90s. Participants who wanted to receive vaccinations were arranged to receive the Sinovac vaccination at the Community Vaccination Centre (CVC) at the nearby Tin Fai Road Sports Centre, or to take pre-arranged transport to receive the BioNTech vaccination at the CVC at Yuen Long Sports Centre.
The vaccination event for the elderly in Sai Kung attracted some 120 residents. They took part in a health talk and medical consultation at the Sai Kung Jockey Club Town Hall, and a visiting medical practitioner was on site to administer the Sinovac vaccine to persons who would like to get vaccinated.
The Secretary for the Civil Service, Mr Patrick Nip, attended the events in Yuen Long and Sai Kung to support the elderly persons to get vaccinated. "The COVID-19 Vaccination Programme has been in place for more than seven months and we are now focusing at the district level to encourage more people to get vaccinated. The current local coverage rate of COVID-19 vaccines for the elderly persons is still suboptimal and hence encouraging elderly persons to get vaccinated is still the top priority of the Vaccination Programme. We should not solely rely on the vaccination of younger citizens as a way to protect the elderly. The most secure and effective way is to have the elderly getting vaccinated themselves for self-protection," he said.
The Scientific Committee on Vaccine Preventable Diseases and the Scientific Committee on Emerging and Zoonotic Diseases under the Centre for Health Protection of the Department of Health recommends that elderly persons should receive a COVID-19 vaccination as soon as possible, as long as they are not suffering from acute illnesses. All elderly persons who have previously received influenza vaccines can safely receive COVID-19 vaccines. Both COVID-19 vaccines available in Hong Kong are safe and highly effective in protecting against severe disease and death from COVID-19 infection.
The event in Yuen Long District was organised by the Yuen Long District Office and supported by various local organisations in Yuen Long, Pok Oi Hospital, volunteers, as well as volunteer healthcare workers from organisations including the Hong Kong Geriatrics Society. The event in Sai Kung was co-organised by the Sai Kung District Office and the Wong Tai Sin and Sai Kung District Social Welfare Office of the Social Welfare Department, and supported by organisations including local kai-fong associations and the rural committee.
All eligible persons who want to receive a COVID-19 vaccination can collect same-day tickets from 21 CVCs under the COVID-19 Vaccination Programme so that they can get vaccinated without a prior booking.
From September 29 (Wednesday), the COVID-19 Vaccination Stations set up by the Government in Queen Mary Hospital, Queen Elizabeth Hospital and Tuen Mun Hospital will commence operation to enable patients visiting the hospital for follow-up appointments and visitors, in particular patients of specialist out-patient clinics, to receive the BioNTech vaccination without prior booking when they have their follow-up medical consultation.
For information about the COVID-19 Vaccination Programme, please visit the designated website: www.covidvaccine.gov.hk.
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