Not Enough Kids Are Vaccinated Against Covid: Govt

The Secretary for the Civil Service, Ingrid Yeung, on Wednesday renewed her call for parents to get their children vaccinated against Covid-19, saying not enough have done so.

On an RTHK programme, Yeung noted that children as young as six months can now receive a diluted version of the BioNTech vaccine, as an alternative to the Sinovac jab that was already available.

As at 7pm on Tuesday, 750 bookings were made for the toddler formula of the BioNTech vaccine. She said the number of bookings for child jabs has not been satisfactory.

“The vaccination rate for children aged below three is lower than 19 percent. It is very worrying. In particular for parents who plan to take their children on holiday during Christmas or the Lunar New Year, they should really have their kids vaccinated,” she said, adding that the government does not have a target as to how many young children it wants to see inoculated against the coronavirus.

The minister said while there’s no walk-in arrangement for the BioNTech toddler jabs, she believes parents can easily make a booking for the same day as there are still many free slots at the moment.

On the same programme, the chairwoman of the Subsidised Primary School Council, Vu Im-fan, said primary schools are making preparations to resume full-day classes.

Primary schools will be able to hold classes all day from December 1 as long as at least 70 percent of pupils are double-jabbed and 35 schools have so far applied to do so.

Vu said she believes more schools will make the move soon.