No perhaps, no may be -- a health expert said medical staff should start telling the elderly that it is fine to get vaccinated, giving them the confidence to get the jab.
Professor Lau Yu-lung, who chairs the government's scientific committee on vaccine preventable diseases, said today that frontline medical staff should start to avoid using terms such as “perhaps” or “maybe” when responding to the elderly’s inquiry of whether or not to get the jab.
Lau urged the medical staff to simply tell the elderly “it is fine to get vaccinated.”
“Both the Sinovac vaccine and the Influenza vaccine are inactivated virus vaccines, using the same virus technology platform. Elderlies who had received the Influenza vaccine before are safe to receive the Sinovac vaccine,” said Lau.
The health expert also pointed out that the elderly should get vaccinated as soon as possible ahead of resuming cross-border travel, which may trigger a new Covid-19 wave.
“In view of the SAR in talks with the mainland on resuming cross-border travel, we may see a new Covid wave coming our way. Although the new wave may be manageable, the elderly should get jabbed to avoid contracting the virus,” he said, citing a high fatality rate for the elderly contracting Covid.
Meanwhile, Lau said the vaccination rate in Hong Kong is unsatisfactory, with only 12,000 people getting their first jab yesterday.
Hong Kong’s vaccination rate currently stands at 63.6 percent, still a long way to reach the 70 percent target set for the end of this month by authorities.
Lau urged the medical staff to simply tell the elderly “it is fine to get vaccinated.”
“Both the Sinovac vaccine and the Influenza vaccine are inactivated virus vaccines, using the same virus technology platform. Elderlies who had received the Influenza vaccine before are safe to receive the Sinovac vaccine,” said Lau.
The health expert also pointed out that the elderly should get vaccinated as soon as possible ahead of resuming cross-border travel, which may trigger a new Covid-19 wave.
“In view of the SAR in talks with the mainland on resuming cross-border travel, we may see a new Covid wave coming our way. Although the new wave may be manageable, the elderly should get jabbed to avoid contracting the virus,” he said, citing a high fatality rate for the elderly contracting Covid.
Meanwhile, Lau said the vaccination rate in Hong Kong is unsatisfactory, with only 12,000 people getting their first jab yesterday.
Hong Kong’s vaccination rate currently stands at 63.6 percent, still a long way to reach the 70 percent target set for the end of this month by authorities.