Coronavirus Hong Kong: vaccine outreach targeting domestic helpers covers more than 260 Indonesians; 3 new imported cases confirmed
- Civil service chief Patrick Nip says second outreach programme, in collaboration with consulate, being considered
- Sunday’s three new imported cases comprise one arrival from the US and two from Cambodia
Civil service chief Patrick Nip Tak-kuen, who is in charge of the inoculation drive, and labour secretary Law Chi-kwong were seen distributing vaccine leaflets at Victoria Park in Causeway Bay, as domestic workers enjoyed their weekend off.
A total of 266 Indonesians have received the Chinese-made Sinovac vaccine at a station set up in a Causeway Bay hotel, under a collaboration with their country’s consulate and the government.
Nip said the registration had received an “enthusiastic” response so far, adding there were long queues at the hotel for the vaccines.
Writing on his Facebook page in the afternoon, Nip said there were “hundreds of people on the waiting list” for the jabs. He also revealed that besides shots at the government’s community vaccination centres, a second outreach programme was also being considered to target this group.
“Many [domestic helpers] need to take care of young children or the elderly in their employers’ homes,” he said, adding that a “protection network in families” would reduce the transmission risks in households.
More than 219,000 or nearly 58 per cent of domestic helpers in Hong Kong have already received their first vaccine dose.
Hong Kong entry plan for helpers ‘risks depriving the vulnerable of jabs’
Meanwhile, the city confirmed three imported cases, comprising a 19-year-old traveller from the United States, as well as two women, aged 41 and 34, from Cambodia.
The older woman had received two doses of Sinovac last month, while the US arrival had also received two doses of the Comirnaty vaccine, developed by Pfizer and BioNTech and distributed there.
The official tally of coronavirus cases in Hong Kong stood at 11,988 as of Sunday.
Separately, the Centre for Health Protection was notified of a confirmed case in Britain, involving a 52-year-old woman who flew from Hong Kong to London on July 15.
As her specimen collected on July 18 tested positive and the patient remains asymptomatic, her Hong Kong home at Lok Yuen, 24 College Road in Kowloon City will be placed under a compulsory testing notice as a prudent measure, according to officials.
