The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health (DH) today (August 2) announced that the 15-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV15) will be provided to eligible children and elderly persons under the Hong Kong Childhood Immunisation Programme (HKCIP) and the Government Vaccination Programme (GVP) (including free and subsidised) respectively from August 5. PCV15 will be replacing the existing 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13), with the aim of strengthening the immunity of children and the elderly against invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD).
The Scientific Committee on Vaccine Preventable Diseases (SCVPD) under the CHP has earlier published an updated recommendation on the use of pneumococcal vaccines in Hong Kong. The SCVPD recommended to replace PCV13 with PCV15 under both the HKCIP and the Government Pneumococcal Vaccination Programme. Relevant immunisation schedules for children and high-risk individuals will remain unchanged.
Under the HKCIP, children who have been receiving PCV13 can switch directly to PCV15 for their next dose. The immunisation schedule will remain unchanged, i.e. two primary doses given at 2 and 4 months of age, followed by a booster dose at 12 months. Eligible children can receive free vaccinations according to schedule at Maternal and Child Health Centres of the DH. For the address of Maternal and Child Health Centres, please visit its website.
Under the GVP, eligible high-risk elderly persons who have not received pneumococcal vaccines before will receive one dose of PCV15 followed by one dose of the 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (23vPPV) a year after. The immunisation schedule will remain unchanged. For those who have already received a dose of PCV13, they will receive a dose of 23vPPV one year after the previous dose of PCV13, and do not require revaccination with PCV15. In addition, subsidised PCV15 and 23vPPV will continue to be provided to the elderly aged 65 or above under the Vaccination Subsidy Scheme (VSS). For details on eligible groups and service providers of the government vaccination programmes of PCV for the elderly, please see the Annex. For the list of enrolled doctors and their service fees, please visit the eHealth System (Subsidies) website.
In 2023/24, the total doses of pneumococcal vaccine (PV) administered under the GVP and the VSS are about 56 200 and 53 700 respectively. Under the two government vaccination programmes, about 684 000 elderly persons aged 65 or above had already received at least one dose of PV, with an overall coverage rate of 41.8 per cent.
A spokesman for the DH said that a total of 53 IPD cases have been recorded in Hong Kong from January to June this year, with about 36 per cent (19 cases) of the patients being elderly persons aged 65 or above. While the figures are lower than the corresponding figures during the same period before the COVID-19 pandemic (2015 to 2019), which ranged from 94 to 107 cases (elderly cases ranged from 38 to 48), members of the public should still get pneumococcal vaccinations on time for personal protection.
For individuals not eligible for relevant government vaccination programmes, they may choose to receive any locally registered pneumococcal vaccines at their own expense upon discussion with their family doctors.
The public may call the CHP's hotline (2125 2125) or visit the CHP's Vaccination Schemes page for more details of the vaccination programmes.
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