Coronavirus Hong Kong: experts recommend adolescents receive only one dose of BioNTech vaccine to reduce chance of side effects
- Both global and local data show young people to be at risk of inflammation, usually temporary, around the heart following vaccination
- But receiving just one dose of vaccine, rather than the usual two, will reduce the likelihood of the condition by 80 per cent, one expert says
Experts on the two scientific committees under the Centre for Health Protection also agreed on Wednesday that the elderly and people with compromised immune systems, such as those having undergone organ or bone-marrow transplants, would require a booster shot in the future, although more factors would have to be considered before deciding details of implementing it.
“We recommend to the government that adolescents aged 12 to 17 now should only receive one dose of BioNTech vaccine and would not need two doses,” said Professor Lau Yu-lung, chairman of the Scientific Committee on Vaccine Preventable Diseases, following a meeting with his colleagues.
The 12-17 age group in Hong Kong can currently receive only the BioNTech vaccine, as the city is still waiting for clinical trial data before making a decision on including China’s Sinovac as well.
The recommendation came in response to both global and local data showing teenagers to be at risk of myocarditis and pericarditis – typically temporary conditions involving inflammation of tissues around the heart – following vaccination, but generally only after the second dose.
So far, Hong Kong has seen 37 cases of the conditions in minors following vaccination. All but five of the patients were boys, and all but seven developed the conditions after their second dose.