Government’s outreach team provides vaccination service to elderly in Sham Shui Po (with photos)

     Two hundred and ten elderly persons from Sham Shui Po joined a health talk and vaccination event at Cheung Sha Wan Sports Centre organised by a group in the district today (August 7) to learn more about the COVID-19 vaccines. Voluntary healthcare workers were on the spot to answer questions from them.
 
     The Government's outreach vaccination team provided vaccination service to the elderly persons who opted for the Sinovac vaccine at a temporary vaccination area specially set up at the sports centre. Those who opted for BioNTech vaccine were taken by pre-arranged transport to a nearby Community Vaccination Centre (CVC) for vaccination.
 
     Attending the event, the Secretary for the Civil Service, Mr Patrick Nip, encouraged elderly persons to learn more about the benefits and importance of getting vaccinated. "The elderly are the group of persons that we want to protect the most as they have the highest risks of complications and death from COVID-19. Experts recommend that all elderly people who have previously received influenza vaccines can safely receive COVID-19 vaccines. If the elderly have chronic diseases, they should get vaccinated as soon as possible for protection when their condition is stable," Mr Nip said.
 
     "I am grateful to the organiser and the district organisations as they care about the health of the elderly. I believe that such 'one-stop' arrangement of providing talks, question and answer sessions and vaccination service will not only enhance elderly persons' understanding of the vaccines and ease their concerns, but also facilitate them to get vaccinated. This is the first time that the outreach service team has participated as a trial in such 'one-stop' arrangement. I hope that groups will organise activities to encourage and help elderly persons to get vaccinated."
 
     "Under the threat of the COVID-19 virus and its mutant strains, it is an obvious choice for elderly persons to get vaccinated so as to protect themselves and others. Currently, persons aged 70 or above can get same-day tickets at more than 20 CVCs to receive vaccination. This arrangement will be extended to persons aged 60 or above shortly."
 
     Mr Nip expressed his gratitude to the voluntary healthcare workers and the Department of Health's Visiting Health Team for holding the talk, and the medical team and administrative support staff of the CVC at Tin Fai Road Sports Centre for providing the outreach service today.
 
     Today's event was organised by a group in the district with the participation by a number of other district organisations.