Letters | Boosters for recovered Covid cases: why can’t Hong Kong draw on overseas experience?

Readers discuss booster policies for people who have contracted Covid-19, the state of Hong Kong’s elderly care homes and how to improve the MTR

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People queue up for Covid-19 vaccination at Kwun Chung Municipal Services Building on May 16. Photo: Edmond So

Published: 2:30pm, 18 May 2022

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The National Health Service (NHS) in England recommends people there who have been infected with Covid-19 have their third vaccination 28 days after catching the virus. According to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), people in the United States who are infected with Covid-19 are advised to receive their booster doses after completing self-isolation.

Government policy in Hong Kong is that there is no urgency to give third jabs to those who are under 60 and have recovered from Covid-19. The government appears not to have explained why we should pursue a policy different from those of the NHS and the CDC.

The parsimony that seems inherent in its present policy is hard to understand. Surely people’s abilities to build immunity from infections vary. The elderly are likely less able to develop immunity lasting for many months after an infection.

This is accepted by the government. But there could be people from other age groups who are generally healthy but who might not be able to derive immunity from previous Covid infections.

The position of the NHS and the CDC indicates that a third jab given shortly after a Covid infection presents no material safety concern. The present Hong Kong government policy, on the other hand, risks an increase in infections on account of the unavailability of third jabs for people who are potentially vulnerable.