Scientific Committees under CHP update consensus interim recommendations on COVID-19 vaccination

     ​The Scientific Committee on Vaccine Preventable Diseases and the Scientific Committee on Emerging and Zoonotic Diseases under the Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health (JSC) convened a meeting today (November 19), joined by the Chief Executive's expert advisory panel (EAP), to discuss and update consensus interim recommendations on the use of CoronaVac vaccine in children and adolescents.
 
     The Advisory Panel on COVID-19 Vaccines (Advisory Panel) recommended to extend the eligibility of the CoronaVac vaccine to cover children and adolescents aged three to 17 at its meeting on November 15. The JSC-EAP noted the Advisory Panel’s recommendation and examined the relevant information during the meeting today to determine the priority groups for receiving the vaccine concerned.
 
     At the meeting, the JSC-EAP noted that phase 1 and 2 trials on the use of CoronaVac vaccine in children and adolescents aged three to 17 years showed that CoronaVac vaccine is immunogenic, safe and well-tolerated.
 
     In addition, ongoing phase 3 studies on the use of CoronaVac vaccine in children and adolescents aged three to 17 years showed that CoronaVac vaccine is well-tolerated. Available information from mass vaccination campaign in mainland China among children and adolescents of three to 17 years old (with over 100 million doses of CoronaVac vaccine administered) has not shown major safety issues. Given the local context and real world experience accrued outside Hong Kong, the JSC-EAP recommended the use of CoronaVac vaccine in adolescents from 12 to 17 years of age for priority deployment, with a view of extending to children of a younger age group at a later stage.
 
​     Details of the interim recommendations are available at the CHP's website www.chp.gov.hk/en/static/24008.html.