Coronavirus vaccine: Hong Kong rolls out BioNTech jabs for children aged 6 months to under 5 years, minister warns booking rate low
- Secretary for the Civil Service Ingrid Yeung says take-up rate ‘not ideal’ in light of low overall vaccination figures among city residents aged under three years
- Parents sold on shots say family members have received earlier vaccine version, others cite need for travel
Hong Kong opened vaccinations for children aged from six months to under five years old on Wednesday, with parents taking their young ones for the new BioNTech jab while a top official warned the overall booking rate remained low.
Secretary for the Civil Service Ingrid Yeung Ho Poi-yan said the booking rate for the new vaccine was low, adding the government had only recorded about 750 appointments for the toddler formula by 7pm on Tuesday.
She cautioned this was “not ideal” in light of an inoculation rate of just under 19 per cent among the city’s children aged under three years.
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At the Hong Kong Children’s Hospital in Kai Tak, one of the centres offering the jabs on Wednesday, the Post observed more than 10 families entering the premises in half an hour from 10am.
Some parents told the Post they had been waiting for the BioNTech toddlers’ vaccine to become available, while others pointed to travelling needs.
Ada Kwong, who brought her 4½-year-old son for vaccination, said: “Our whole family got the BioNTech vaccine. His sister, who is six, received the [diluted] version for children and had no side effects, hence I came once I found out the [toddler formula] is available.”
Kwong, 40, added that she was not worried about travel or kindergarten vaccination requirements for her son, stressing she simply hoped to spare her boy from severe conditions if he came down with Covid-19.
“My friends’ children have caught Covid-19 before and I noticed their symptoms were rather mild as they were vaccinated,” the mother added.
Civil Service chief Yeung warned that as winter approached, both the coronavirus and flu viruses would become more active, while families might travel overseas during the Christmas and Lunar New Year holidays. She urged parents to get their young ones at least double-jabbed for enough protection.
“If children are attacked by both viruses, the consequences can be very serious,” she said, adding she believed the vaccination rate among toddlers would rise with the availability of the latest BioNTech formula for the younger age group.
At Kai Tak, a father surnamed Lau was with his 11-month-old son, saying he held out for the toddlers’ jab to become available.
“I have thought about the possibility of side effects. I know there’s a higher chance of side effects with this vaccine, but I also think it’s more effective,” Lau said.
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“I was worried about the long wait for this vaccine. I had set myself a deadline – if this vaccine isn’t available by my son’s first birthday in a few days, I’ll get the other one,” the father added, referring to the Chinese-made Sinovac shot, available for children as young as six months.
Other parents cited more practical concerns in bringing their children for the BioNTech shot. Avaiya Tejaskumar, a 34-year-old diamond and jewellery merchant, came with his wife and their four-year-old daughter.
“I’m getting this vaccine [for my daughter] because of a trip to India. We are flying on January 1,” the father said, adding he was not worried about side effects, as his entire family had received the same vaccine brand.
As of Tuesday, around 18.9 per cent of children under two years old and some 87.2 per cent of those aged between three to 11 years had received a first dose of a Covid-19 vaccine.
Health authorities earlier said the full course of the vaccination for toddlers would involve three doses, with the second shot to be taken at least 56 days after the first, and the third 90 days after.
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The new BioNTech shot is available at four designated centres, with two in Kowloon Bay and Kwai Chung running daily. The centre at Gleneagles Hospital in Wong Chuk Hang only operates on Tuesdays and Sundays, while the CUHK Medical Centre in Sha Tin opens on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.
Yeung said the centres did not cater to walk-ins, and parents must make online bookings in advance as the formula required special dilution procedures and could only be stored for a few hours.
She added that the shots for toddlers were only given at the four centres to prevent them from being mixed up with those for other age groups, but added authorities were considering increasing the number of vaccination sites.
The government approved the emergency use of the toddler version of the German-made vaccine for children aged six months to under five years in mid-October.
