Government vaccine adviser Lau Yu-lung said young children can get the Sinovac jabs together with other vaccines, calling on parents to book the vaccination for their kids as soon as possible with a view to boosting the age group’s vaccination rate to 60 percent before winter.
Speaking on a radio program on Friday, Lau, the head of the government’s Scientific Committee on Vaccine Preventable Diseases, said time is running short to give kids the protection they need ahead of an expected surge in cases in winter.
He said he personally would like to see 50 to 60 percent of children who are under the age of three to get triple-jabbed before the winter.
His comments came after the government announced on Thursday that only two percent of the city’s young children aged between six months and three years had received Sinovac jabs - a week after the launch of the vaccine program expansion.
He’s hoping that the expansion of the vaccination programme from Monday next week – when jabs for young children become available at all Maternal and Child Health Centres across Hong Kong – will lead to a surge in vaccinations.
He also said parents can make things easier by booking Covid jabs for their children at the same time as other required vaccinations.
"When children need to get vaccinated when they're one, one and a half or younger, they can get the Sinovac shots together with other vaccines. This saves time, parents don't need to make another booking. We need different channels [for inoculation] so that it's convenient," Lau told the radio program.
Lau, who's also the chair pediatrics professor at the University of Hong Kong, stressed that the Sinovac vaccine has been proven to be safe, and there’s no problem with getting the Covid vaccine at the same time as other jabs.
He said he personally would like to see 50 to 60 percent of children who are under the age of three to get triple-jabbed before the winter.
His comments came after the government announced on Thursday that only two percent of the city’s young children aged between six months and three years had received Sinovac jabs - a week after the launch of the vaccine program expansion.
He’s hoping that the expansion of the vaccination programme from Monday next week – when jabs for young children become available at all Maternal and Child Health Centres across Hong Kong – will lead to a surge in vaccinations.
He also said parents can make things easier by booking Covid jabs for their children at the same time as other required vaccinations.
"When children need to get vaccinated when they're one, one and a half or younger, they can get the Sinovac shots together with other vaccines. This saves time, parents don't need to make another booking. We need different channels [for inoculation] so that it's convenient," Lau told the radio program.
Lau, who's also the chair pediatrics professor at the University of Hong Kong, stressed that the Sinovac vaccine has been proven to be safe, and there’s no problem with getting the Covid vaccine at the same time as other jabs.