The Government announced today (March 15) that the priority groups under the COVID-19 Vaccination Programme will be expanded to cover people aged between 30 and 59, students aged 16 or above studying outside Hong Kong and domestic helpers.
Members of the public in these new categories can make reservations starting from 9am tomorrow (March 16) through the online booking system on the designated website of the Vaccination Programme (www.covidvaccine.gov.hk) for receiving vaccines at Community Vaccination Centres (CVCs) and the 18 general out-patient clinics of the Hospital Authority. They can also make appointments for vaccination with a private doctor or clinic participating in the programme.
"We believe that members of the public are concerned and worried about the recent cluster outbreak in a fitness centre which has led to an increase of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in a short period of time. Apart from striving to contain the epidemic at the soonest and continuing to maintain good personal hygiene, it is of utmost importance for people to get vaccinated as early as possible," a spokesman for the Government said.
"Taking into account the supply of the vaccines and the operation of the Vaccination Programme, we have decided to expand the scope of the priority groups so as to allow more people to get vaccinated as soon as possible to protect oneself and others."
The priority groups, after expansion, are as follows:
1. Persons aged 30 years or above (a maximum of two carers who accompany elderly people aged 70 or above can also receive vaccination);
2. Personnel in healthcare settings and those participating in anti-epidemic related work;
3. Residents and staff of residential care homes for the elderly/residential care homes for persons with disabilities and staff of community care services units for the elderly/persons with disabilities;
4. Personnel maintaining critical public services;
5. Personnel providing cross-boundary transportation or working at control points and ports;
6. Staff of food and beverages premises, markets, supermarkets, convenience stores and couriers (including takeaway food delivery);
7. Staff of local public transport service operators;
8. Registered construction workers and other resident site personnel;
9. Staff of property management (including security and cleaning staff);
10. Teachers and school staff;
11. Staff of the tourism industry;
12. Staff of scheduled premises under the Prevention and Control of Disease (Requirements and Directions) (Business and Premises) Regulation (Cap. 599F);
13. Students studying outside Hong Kong (aged 16 or above); and
14. Domestic helpers.
After expansion, the vaccination priority groups will cover more than 5.5 million people, accounting for more than 80 per cent of the population aged 16 (the current minimum age for vaccination) or above.
The Vaccination Programme has been running smoothly since its launch on February 26. Starting from tomorrow, 12 CVCs administering the Comirnaty vaccine will come into operation, bringing the total number of CVCs to 19 (there are eight other CVCs administering the Sinovac vaccine), making it more convenient for the public to get vaccinated.
With the accumulation of operational experience at CVCs and the opening of more CVCs, the booking system will provide an additional daily vaccination quota of about 23 000. Furthermore, the public can also receive the Sinovac vaccine from some 1 400 private doctors at around 2 000 clinics participating in the programme.
Members of the public can search for information about all vaccination venues through the GeoInfo Map (www.map.gov.hk/gm/map/s/m/communityvaccinationservicesofcovid-19?lg=tc) and the Interactive Map Dashboard of COVID-19 (chp-dashboard.geodata.gov.hk/covid-19/zh.html) on the designated website.
Ends/Monday, March 15, 2021 Issued at HKT 19:11
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