Coronavirus: Hong Kong health experts ‘set to approve vaccines for children aged below 3’, with Sinovac jab deemed most feasible
- Government committee likely to agree on lowering age for vaccine recipients in August meeting, source says
- Health experts say Chinese-made Sinovac jab most feasible option for children under age of three
Hong Kong health experts are likely to recommend next month that the government allow children under the age of three to receive Covid-19 vaccines “as soon as possible”, with the Chinese-made Sinovac jab considered the most practical option, the Post has learned.
A source on Sunday said the government’s Scientific Committee on Vaccine Preventable Diseases would probably agree with the measure during next month’s meeting, adding that evidence suggested the jabs were safe for those aged between six months and three years.
Committee chairman Professor Lau Yu-lung said that if the proposal was passed immediately, it would still take a significant amount of time to fully vaccinate children under the age of three.
He told the Post that children under the age of three needed to be inoculated “as soon as possible” to reduce the number of hospital admissions amid a recent rise in coronavirus cases.
“Our paediatric colleagues just told me [on Sunday] that many more children were admitted in the last few days, creating pressure for staff,” he said.
Hong Kong on Sunday reported 3,486 coronavirus infections, 173 of which were imported, and four additional deaths. The city’s overall Covid-19 tally stands at 1,294,082 cases and 9,437 related fatalities.
According to government figures, about 92.8 per cent of Hongkongers aged 12 or above have received at least one vaccine jab, while 76.6 per cent of children aged between three and 11 were inoculated with one dose.