23 Oct 2010
Vaccination programmes 2010/11, covering seasonal influenza vaccination and elderly pneumococcal vaccination, will be launched next month.
Starting November 1, 2010, free seasonal influenza vaccinations will be provided under the Government Vaccination Programme (GVP) 2010/11 by the Department of Health (DH) and Hospital Authority (HA) to specified target groups, namely:
* Elderly persons living in residential care homes (RCH);
* Long-stay residents of institutions for the disabled;
* Elderly persons aged 65 years or above with chronic illness and followed up in public clinics, as well as those aged 65 years or above receiving Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA);
* Persons under 65 years with chronic illness who are on CSSA, and some long-stay HA in-patients who have chronic illness;
* Health care workers of DH, HA and other Government departments, as well as health care workers in elderly homes or institutions for the disabled;
* Children between the age of 6 months and less than 6 years from families receiving CSSA;
* All pregnant women receiving CSSA;
* Poultry workers or staff who may be involved in the poultry culling operations; and
* Pig farmers and pig-slaughtering industry personnel.
The influenza vaccine to be used in GVP 2010/11 will contain:
* an A/California/7/2009 (H1N1)-like virus (i.e., human swine flu-like virus)
* an A/Perth/16/2009 (H3N2)-like virus
* a B/Brisbane/60/2008-like virus
In addition, free pneumococcal vaccine will be administered to those elderly persons aged 65 or above living in RCHs, with chronic illness and followed up in public clinics, or receiving CSSA, if they have not received the vaccination previously.
Eligible persons may receive the vaccinations from DH or HA clinics. Residents and staff of RCHs for the Elderly and Disabled will receive free vaccinations in their institutions by private doctors enrolled as Visiting Medical Officers (VMOs) under the Residential Care Home Vaccination Programme. The VMOs will be reimbursed at $50 per vaccine injection by the Government.
Seasonal influenza vaccination will be provided between November 1, 2010 and March 31, 2011. Pneumococcal vaccination for the elderly runs continuously throughout the year and has no end-date.
In addition, the Government will provide subsidised vaccination to eligible children and elderly under the Childhood Influenza Vaccination Subsidy Scheme (CIVSS) and Elderly Vaccination Subsidy Scheme (EVSS) respectively. These two schemes are delivered through private doctors.
Under the CIVSS, children aged between six months and less than six years are each entitled to a subsidy of HK$80 for each dose of seasonal influenza vaccine received from enrolled private doctors, up to a maximum of two doses.
Enrolled private doctors will display the scheme logo near the entrance of their clinic for recognition. In addition, information about doctors who join CIVSS and the fees that they charge will be posted on the CHP website.
As for the Elderly Vaccination Subsidy Scheme (EVSS), elderly people reaching the age of 65 or above this year will be entitled to a HK$80 subsidy for each dose of influenza vaccine and $140 for each dose of pneumococcal vaccine. An extra $50 will be subsidised as injection cost per dose received from private doctors, i.e. a total subsidy of $130 for each influenza vaccination and $190 for each pneumococcal vaccination.
The period of seasonal influenza vaccination under the EVSS and CIVSS is also from November 1, 2010 to March 31, 2011 while pneumococcal vaccination for EVSS is on-going.
A telephone hotline (2125 2125) has been set up to answer public enquiries relating to the vaccination programmes and subsidy schemes during office hours. Members of the public may also obtain relevant information from the CHP website, www.chp.gov.hk .
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