With the rampant COVID-19 epidemic situation still raging and the faster and more extensive spread of the virus as a result of the mutant strains, and the fact that so far only about 26 per cent of the residents at the residential care homes for the elderly (RCHEs) and the residential care homes for persons with disabilities (RCHDs) having received vaccination despite various government vaccination programmes for these residents thus far, the Government announced today (January 27) that the following enhanced measures will be implemented:
- The Government will require all residential care homes to submit the health records of their residents to doctors to assess suitability for receiving vaccination;
- For residents who have been assessed by doctors as suitable for vaccination and are able to give consent, the Government will arrange vaccinations for them as early as possible and inform their family;
- For residents who have been assessed by doctors as suitable for vaccination but are unable to give consent, the Government will seek the views of their legal guardians / family members. Unless written objections are submitted by their legal guardians / family members within a given period of time, the Government will arrange vaccination for these residents as early as possible; and
- For residents who have no legal guardian and are unable to give consent, doctors as usual will decide whether to administer vaccine to these residents based on their professional judgment.
In addition, the Government will prescribe a date, and starting from that date, all persons to be newly admitted to RCHEs/RCHDs for long-term abode must have received one dose of vaccination, unless medical proofs of unsuitability to receive vaccination can be produced.
The RCHEs/RCHDs will be informed of the implementation details soon.
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