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The Government Influenza Vaccination Programme (GIVP) for 2006/07 will start tomorrow (November 6) covering about 300,000 people considered to be in the eight needy or high-risk groups.
A spokesman for the Department of Health (DH) said that more than 60,000 elderly people living in 700-plus residential care homes will receive free influenza vaccination from tomorrow to December 1, followed by a mop-up vaccination until early 2007.
"Visiting Health Teams of the Department of Health's Elderly Health Service will visit more than 550 elderly homes to provide on-site vaccination to their residents and staff. In addition, free vaccines will be delivered to about 210 homes where vaccination will be conducted by in-house nurses," he said.
"This will help protect them from complications of influenza infection by immunisation prior to the peak influenza season," he added.
The spokesman said that the Government had been providing free vaccinations to all elderly living in residential care homes in Hong Kong since 1998. The programme had all along been well received, with a coverage rate of 94% in 2005.
Elderly people living in residential care homes were among one of the eight GIVP target groups recommended by the Scientific Committee on Vaccine Preventable Diseases (SCVPD) established under the Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health."
Other target groups include:
* Long-stay residents of institutions for the disabled;
* People aged 65 years or above with chronic illness having follow-ups in public clinics, or receiving Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA);
* People aged under 65 years with chronic illness who are on CSSA, and some in-patients of the Hospital Authority (HA) who have chronic illness;
* Healthcare workers of DH, HA and other government departments, as well as healthcare workers in elderly homes or institutions for the disabled;
* Poultry workers or staff who may be in contact with poultry in the poultry-culling operations;
* Children aged from six to 23 months from families receiving CSSA;
* All pregnant women receiving CSSA.
"DH has ordered 300,000 doses of vaccine for this year's GIVP and an extra 90,000 doses for contingency purposes," the spokesman said.
Recommended vaccines to be used in the 2006/07 season (Northern Hemisphere winter) contain:
* A/New Caledonia/20/99(H1N1)-like virus
* A/Wisconsin/67/2005(H3N2)-like virus
* B/Malaysia/2506/2004-like virus.
"Those who are not covered by GIVP should consult their family doctors," the spokesman said.
To prevent influenza and other respiratory tract infections, the public is advised to adopt a healthy lifestyle and adhere to the following health advice:
* Build up good body immunity by having a proper diet, regular exercise and adequate rest, reducing stress and avoiding smoking;
* Maintain good personal hygiene, and wash hands after sneezing and coughing, and wear a mask when developing symptoms of respiratory infections;
* Maintain good ventilation;
* Avoid visiting crowded places with poor ventilation, especially during peak flu season.
The public may obtain information on influenza and influenza vaccination by calling DH's health education (pre-recorded) hotline at 2833 0111 or from CHP's website: www.chp.gov.hk.
Ends/Sunday, November 5, 2006
Issued at HKT 11:01
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