Hong Kong medical experts urge coronavirus vaccinations for young children as early as possible, after death of 20-month-old with Covid-19
- Dr Patrick Ip, a professor at the University of Hong Kong, warns parents against ‘pandemic fatigue’ amid Covid-19 outbreak predicted for next month
- Call comes after 20-month-old boy infected with disease dies earlier in week, although exact cause still to be determined
Young children should receive coronavirus vaccines as early as possible, medical experts said on Saturday following the death earlier in the week of a 20-month-old boy who had tested positive for Covid-19.
Covid-19 vaccination rates for children aged five years or younger were “not ideal”, according to Lau Yu-lung, professor of paediatrics and adolescent medicine at the University of Hong Kong (HKU).
Only 13 per cent of those children have received three doses of a Covid-19 vaccine, while 47 per cent have been given two and 58 per cent one jab.
The rates were lower than those for people aged 80 or above, which stood at 65 per cent, 71 per cent and 73 per cent for the three vaccination levels, Lau said.
“Whether it’s inactivated or mRNA vaccines, children under the age of five will need all three doses to achieve basic protection,” he told a radio programme.