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| Giving free BioNTech vaccine for toddlers started today |
Starting today, Nov. 9,
children aged between 6 months and 4 years could receive the BioNTech vaccine
specially formulated for toddlers for free at four Children Community Vaccination Centres (CCVCs).
Sinovac
vaccines have been made available to children in this age group for the past
few months, and doctors say both vaccines give effective protection.
Since
the free BioNTech vaccination was announced beforehand, about 750 bookings had
already been made as of last night, said the Secretary for the Civil Service
Ingrid Yeung.
However,
the overall vaccine intake of children aged below 3 remains low, with only about
19% of 104,000 kids in this age group having received their first dose of a
Covid-19 jab.
Yeung
urged parents to get their children vaccinated as soon as possible as the
coming winter could put them at greater health risk.
“Winter
is a challenge to children who have weaker resistance to diseases. The later
they get vaccinated, the greater the health risks may be
posed to them,” she said.
With
Christmas approaching, she said parents who intend to leave for abroad should
at least take their young children for their first vaccine dose, and if time permits,
let them receive their second dose before their trip.
“Unvaccinated
children will have higher risks of getting seriously ill should they get
infected, and seeking medical treatment abroad may be
complicated. Recovered children may have to suffer from the after-effects
of 'post COVID-19 condition' as well,” she said.
Meanwhile,
23 children have come down with upper respiratory tract infection (URTI) in a
new outbreak of the disease at a child care centre in Mong Kok.
The
Centre for Health Protection said the sick children comprised 14 boys and nine
girls aged between five months and three years old. They developed fever, runny
nose and cough since Nov 1 but all tested negative for Covid-19 in their rapid
antigen test.
Four of
the children had to be hospitalized after they tested positive for
enterovirus/rhinovirus.
CHP
appealed to the public and staff of institutions to stay alert and maintain
strict personal and environmental hygiene.
To get
the BioNTech toddler vaccine for their children, parents have to make prior
bookings online at any of the following four CCVs:
Hong Kong Children's Hospital CCVC
Address: G/F, Clinical Tower (Tower B), Hong Kong Children's Hospital, 1 Shing
Cheong Road, Kowloon Bay
HKU CCVC at Gleneagles Hospital Hong Kong (on Tuesdays and Sundays)
Address: 1 Nam Fung Path, Wong Chuk Hang
CUHK Medical Centre (on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays)
Address: 9 Chak Cheung Street, Sha Tin
Osman Ramju Sadick Memorial Sports Centre
Address: 176 Hing Fong Road, Kwai Chung
Children
aged 6 months to 4 years should have their first two doses of the BioNTech
vaccine at an interval of at least eight weeks.
But
this could be shortened to three weeks with the parents’ informed consent, with
due regard for the child’s personal needs, as well as the risk and benefit of
giving the vaccine earlier than the prescribed interval.
For the
second and third dose, a three-month interval is prescribed.
The government
said it will continue to provide schools with special booking and
transportation services for children given permission by their parents to
receive the vaccine.
The
consent form for parents who will arrange their children to receive the
BioNTech vaccine can be downloaded from the designated website of the COVID-19
Vaccination Programme (www.covidvaccine.gov.hk/pdf/Consent_Form_for_Fractional_BioNTech_Vaccination_ENG.pdf).
Apart
from the consent form, children aged 3 to 11 have to be accompanied by an adult
family member, a domestic helper or a school teacher to receive vaccination;
children aged below 3 have to be accompanied by their parents/guardians in
person when receiving vaccination.
Persons
have to bring along the original identity documents on the date of vaccination.
If the identity documents do not bear the child's photo, such as the birth
certificate, for children already attending a school, they have to present
school documents (such as school handbooks) bearing a photo of the student at
the time of vaccination.
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