Tag Archives: China

     Taking into account of the expert recommendation of shortening the time intervals between COVID-19 vaccine doses, the Government announced today (March 4) that the booking system of the designated website of the COVID-19 Vaccination Programme (www.covidvacine.gov.hk) has been enhanced to enable persons of the relevant groups to make appointments for receiving the third dose as soon as possible for self-protection.
 
     On February 25, 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 and the Chief Executive’s expert advisory panel jointly recommended to shorten the time intervals between COVID-19 vaccine doses. It also strongly recommended a third dose of the BioNTech vaccine for adults who have received two doses of the Sinovac CoronaVac vaccine or the Fosun/BioNTech Comirnaty vaccine as soon as three months after they had received their second dose. Priority should be accorded to persons aged 60 and above in view of their higher vulnerability to severe illness and higher fatality rate from COVID-19 infection in the local context (please see details in the press release: www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/202202/25/P2022022500777.htm ).
 
Booking will be open to the following groups starting from 8am on March 5
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* For persons aged 60 or above who have received two doses of the Sinovac or the BioNTech vaccine, the time interval for receiving the third dose will be shortened from six months after the second dose to three months. Members of the public please make an appointment for receiving their third dose via the online booking system as soon as possible.
 
* For children and teenagers aged 5 to 17, the time interval between the first two doses of the BioNTech vaccine will be shortened from 12 weeks to eight weeks. Persons making new appointments via the updated online booking system can make a booking for their first dose of the BioNTech vaccine and reserve a time slot for receiving their second dose eight weeks after their first dose at the same time. For children and teenagers who have made their appointments for or have received the first dose of the BioNTech vaccine but yet to meet the eight-week interval for their second dose, they can also make or change their appointment of the second dose via the updated system.
 
* Immunocompromised children aged below 12 can make appointments for receiving the third dose four weeks after receiving the first two doses of the Sinovac or the BioNTech vaccine. Please bring the relevant medical certificate to the designated vaccination venue on the day of third dose vaccination in order to confirm the eligibility of vaccination. A medical certificate template is available at the designated website of the COVID-19 Vaccination Programme (www.covidvaccine.gov.hk/pdf/Medical_Certificate_of_Third_Dose_Eligibility_for_Immunocompromised_Persons.pdf).
 
Booking will be open to the following group starting from 8am on March 11
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* Persons aged 12 to 17 who have received two vaccine doses can make an appointment for the third dose.
 
* Those who have received two doses of Sinovac vaccine can receive the Sinovac or the BioNTech vaccine as their third dose three months after the second dose.
 
* Those who have received two doses of the BioNTech vaccine can receive the BioNTech vaccine as their third dose five months after the second dose. They can also choose the Sinovac vaccine as their third dose according to their personal preference.
 
Booking will be open to the following groups starting from 8am on March 21
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* Immunocompromised persons aged 12 or above can make an appointment to receive an additional dose, i.e. the fourth dose, with a time interval of three months since the third dose. Please bring the relevant medical certificate to the designated vaccination venue on the day of fourth dose vaccination in order to confirm the eligibility of vaccination. If the relevant medical certificate has been issued for their third dose vaccination, they can bring along the relevant certificate within the validity period when receiving vaccination.
 
     To prioritise the vaccination need of the elderly and children, the Government will arrange persons aged 18 to 59 who have already received two vaccine doses to make appointments for the third dose three months after their second dose via the online booking system at a later stage. The arrangement will be announced separately.
 
     A Government spokesman said, “The current epidemic situation is of grave concern. Elderly persons and children are our focus of protection through vaccination. We have set up Community Vaccination Centres (CVCs) dedicated for children, teenagers and elderly persons to enable them to get vaccinated as early as possible. The four Children Community Vaccination Centres (CCVCs) providing the BioNTech vaccine are located at Hong Kong Children’s Hospital, Yuen Chau Kok Sports Centre, Gleneagles Hospital Hong Kong and Tsuen Wan Sports Centre. In addition to the CVC at Hong Kong Central Library, starting from March 7, the Hong Kong Spinners Industrial Building CVC will provide the Sinovac vaccination service, dedicated to persons aged 3 to 17 and 60 or above. We will continue to set up similar vaccination centre to provide service to children and elderly persons.
 
     “Both COVID-19 vaccines available in Hong Kong are safe and highly effective in protecting against severe illness and death from COVID-19 infection. We appeal members of the public who are not yet vaccinated, especially senior citizens, chronic patients and other immunocompromised persons who face a much higher fatality risk after COVID-19 infection, to get vaccinated as early as possible for the sake of their health. We also call on parents to arrange vaccination for their children as early as possible for effective protection,” he added.
 
Points to note
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     Persons receiving the vaccination have to bring along original identity documents. If children’s identity documents do not bear the child’s photo, such as the birth certificate, then school documents (such as school handbooks) bearing a photo of the student must be presented at the time of vaccination.
 
     For children and teenagers aged 3 to 17, they must bring along a consent form signed by their parents on the date of vaccination. As the BioNTech vaccine for children requires a special dilution procedure, children aged 5 to 11 must receive the BioNTech vaccine at the four CCVCs and must be accompanied by their parents/guardians in person when receiving vaccination. They must bring along a consent form of the following version signed by their parents on the date of vaccination (www.covidvaccine.gov.hk/pdf/Consent_Form_for_Fractional_BioNTech_Vaccination_ENG.pdf).
 
     For persons aged 12 to 17 receiving the BioNTech vaccine and children and teenagers aged 3 to 17 receiving the Sinovac vaccine, they must bring along a consent form of the following version (www.covidvaccine.gov.hk/pdf/Consent_Form_for_COVID19_Vaccination_ENG.pdf)  signed by their parents on the date of vaccination. In addition, children aged 3 to 11 receiving the Sinovac vaccine must be accompanied by their parents/guardians in person when receiving vaccination. read more

     The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government today (March 4) stated that the recent sharp increase in demand for medicine for symptomatic relief of upper respiratory tract infection (URTI) is noted, which include analgesics and antipyretics, cough syrup and lozenges, in particular certain brand of medicine containing paracetamol for use as analgesics and antipyretics. The Government stresses that the overall supply of medicine for symptomatic relief of URTI is stable and the public need not to stockpile these medicine.
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     In view of the potential tight supply of these medicine in the market, the Department of Health (DH) has immediately liaised with the relevant suppliers, manufacturers, the local pharmaceutical manufacturers as well as community pharmacy associations. It was noted that while the supply of specific brand of medicine may be temporarily tight due to the sharp rises in demand within a short period of time, the overall supply continues to remain stable.

     In response to the anticipated demand for these medicine, the DH has also requested the Government’s contract supplier to redeploy the stock, and other suppliers and local manufactures association to increase the supply to meet the needs of the local market.

     The Government has all along been monitoring the supply situation of these products and closely communicating with the suppliers, local manufacturers and community pharmacy associations. If necessary, it would consider procuring these medicines from the Mainland to ensure stable supply in the local market.

     According to the Pharmacy and Poisons Ordinance, Chapter 138, all pharmaceutical products must satisfy the criteria of safety, efficacy and quality and be registered with the Pharmacy and Poisons Board before they can be sold in Hong Kong.  All registered pharmaceutical products should carry a Hong Kong registration number on the package in the format of “HK-XXXXX”.

     Paracetamol could be used to relieve pain and fever. According to record, there are currently 777 pharmaceutical products containing paracetamol registered in Hong Kong. Members of the public can search the database of registered pharmaceutical products with English product names or ingredients via the search engine in the website of the Drug Office, Department of Health: www.drugoffice.gov.hk/eps/do/en/consumer/search_drug_database.html

     The DH urged members of the public that they should avoid buying medicine for self-medication and should consult healthcare professionals for advice before taking any medications for their conditions. read more

     The Commerce and Economic Development Bureau said today (March 4) that the task force of ensuring medical supplies has been working closely with their Mainland counterparts. Various kinds of medical supplies are arriving i… read more

The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority:

     As at 0.00am today (March 4), a total of 7 036 patients who tested positive or preliminarily positive for COVID-19 are currently being treated in the North Lantau Hospital Hong Kong Infection Control Centre, the Hospital Authority (HA) Infectious Disease Centre, the Community Treatment Facility at AsiaWorld-Expo and public hospitals. There were 494 patients discharged and 136 patients passed away. Including 52 previously unannounced cases, a total of 1 546 patients have passed away in public hospitals so far. All cases have been confirmed by the Centre for Health Protection.

     Among the 136 deceased patients who have passed away in the past 24 hours, 97 patients were not vaccinated, 21 patients had taken one dose, 17 patients had taken two doses and one patient had taken three doses. The 89-year-old male patient who had taken three doses had multiple chronic diseases. The third dose was taken in mid-February 2022.

     There are currently around 1 100 patients isolated in the Community Isolation Facility in Penny’s Bay.

     The HA will maintain close contact with the Centre for Health Protection to monitor the latest developments and to inform the public and healthcare workers on the latest information in a timely manner. read more

     The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health (DH) today (March 4) announced the latest epidemic situation of COVID-19. As of 0.00am, March 4, the CHP was investigating 19 830 additional confirmed cases, 8 601 additional asymptomatic cases and 24 092 cases with pending case status in the past 24 hours (i.e. there were 52 523 additional cases that tested positive for the SARS-CoV-2 virus in those 24 hours). Hong Kong has recorded a total of 403 080 cases that tested positive for the SARS-CoV-2 virus so far.

     The newly reported cases consist of 11 imported cases and 52 512 locally acquired cases. The CHP is continuing with epidemiological investigations on the cases.

     As at 4pm today, a total of 312 979 cases that tested positive for the SARS-CoV-2 virus had been reported in the past 14 days (February 18 to March 3), including 312 882 locally acquired cases and 97 imported cases. A list of buildings related to the cases is available at the “COVID-19 Thematic Website” (www.coronavirus.gov.hk).

     Furthermore, among the earlier cases reported, there were cases (including pending cases) changed to confirmed, asymptomatic or re-positive cases. As at yesterday (March 3), the total number of confirmed cases was 149 683, while the figures for asymptomatic cases, re-positive cases, pending/unknown cases recorded since January 1 were 63 669, 10 and 137 195 respectively.

     People with positive or preliminary positive COVID-19 nucleic acid test results will receive an SMS notification about the result, together with a request to fill in an electronic form (www.chp.gov.hk/cdpi) to submit information, including those on family members living in the same household. This is to facilitate the work of the CHP such as epidemiological investigation and arrangement of hospital admission, isolation and quarantine. People who receive the relevant SMS should check the personal information and information on testing in the SMS carefully and fill in the electronic form as soon as possible to provide accurate and complete information.

     The spokesman for the CHP stressed that the local situation of COVID-19 infection became severe recently and there is a continuous increase in the number of cases involving mutant strains that carry higher transmissibility. With the higher transmissibility and risk of infection of the Omicron mutant strain, the CHP strongly appeals to the community to continue to comply with the social distancing measures, avoid going out and refrain from participating in unnecessary or crowded activities or gatherings (particularly religious or cross-family activities and gatherings). This would lower the risk of infection and prevent the virus from spreading in the community.

     â€‹The spokesman reminded that COVID-19 vaccines are highly effective in preventing severe cases and deaths from the SARS-CoV-2 virus. They can provide effective protection to those vaccinated in preventing serious complications and even death after infection. People who are yet to receive vaccination, especially senior citizens, chronic patients and other immunocompromised persons who face a higher chance of death after COVID-19 infection, should get vaccinated as early as possible for self-protection and to reduce the risk of falling seriously ill and death should they get infected. Meanwhile, a person who gets COVID-19 and influenza at the same time may be more seriously ill and would have a higher risk of death. Influenza vaccination may reduce the likelihood of hospitalisation and the length of stay. In addition, seasonal influenza vaccination is recommended for all persons aged 6 months or above except those with known contraindications. Persons at higher risk of getting influenza and its complications, including the elderly and children, should receive seasonal influenza vaccination early. Please see details of the vaccination schemes on the CHP’s website (www.chp.gov.hk/en/features/17980.html). read more