Hong Kong News

Nonpartisan, Noncommercial, unconstrained.
Friday, Mar 29, 2024

Door-to-door vaccine scheme for homebound Hongkongers to launch next week

Door-to-door vaccine scheme for homebound Hongkongers to launch next week

Inoculation drive for homebound seniors and disabled residents aims to vaccinate 10,000, with option to expand initiative based on demand.

Hong Kong’s first door-to-door vaccination programme will start giving out Covid-19 jabs to 10,000 homebound elderly and disabled residents next week, but NGOs have said the scheme will only cover one-tenth of those in need of help.

Social service agencies and a lawmaker have called for the door-to-door inoculation drive to cover more homebound people to curb the surging fifth wave of Covid-19 infections.

Secretary for the Civil Service Patrick Nip Tak-kuen, who oversees the inoculation drive, said on Sunday that there were about 50,000 elders and disabled people with mobility issues who were in need of the service.

The programme is set to be carried out by the Hong Kong Council of Social Service (HKCSS), a group representing non-government social service agencies, along with the Federation of Medical Societies of Hong Kong.

On Tuesday, HKCSS business director Cliff Choi Kim-wah said they had already recruited enough doctors, nurses, and social workers for the programme’s outreach teams, which would visit homes and conduct basic health assessments before vaccinating eligible recipients from next Monday.

He said HKCSS service users would be invited to participate in the initiative first, but a hotline would be set for other eligible residents who were willing to take part.

Choi said the scheme had the resources to vaccinate 10,000 people with three doses of the Chinese-made Sinovac vaccine each and expected distribution of the first shots would be completed by the end of April.

“But we will not set a limit on the number of people who can benefit from the programme,” he said, adding they would consider expanding services to cover more people if necessary.

Choi said social workers from the outreach teams would contact residents before a home visit, while doctors would evaluate the recipients’ health conditions. If a patient was in good health, they or their family members would be asked for their consent before the jab was administered.

“This is a rare opportunity with home visits by doctors. We hope more residents will take part in it and their family members will encourage them to do so,” he said.

Ivan Lin Wai-kiu, a community organiser with the Society for Community Organisation who works with the elderly, said the HKCSS had contacted the group to ask if they could refer people in need of the vaccination service.

But Lin said the programme’s target of vaccinating 10,000 homebound elderly and disabled residents was too small, estimating there were more than 100,000 seniors with mobility issues in need of jabs.

“Many of them have difficulties going out to get vaccinated, are afraid of leaving home for fear of being infected outside, or are unable to secure a booking,” he said.

The community organiser also warned of “hidden elderly”, seniors without family support and unknown to community help networks, who were also poorly informed about the vaccination programme and had no access to it.

Lin urged authorities to locate and support isolated seniors, by boosting the promotion of the initiative, through measures such as setting up a support hotline.

He also suggested featuring promotions on television and at shopping malls, where hidden elders might be able to see it.

Lin added that the number of seniors willing to get inoculated had surged during the fifth wave, but some were hesitant because of health concerns.

He said more seniors would be motivated to get their jabs if doctors could evaluate their health conditions and address any concerns, as well as giving exemption certificates to those who were unsuitable for a vaccine.

People queue up for Sinovac Covid-19 vaccine jabs at Java Road Sports Centre in North Point.


Amy Wang Su-qin, chief executive officer of the People of Fortitude International Mutual Aid Association for the Disabled, said she believed there were more unvaccinated than inoculated people among Hong Kong’s more than 200,000 disabled residents, but added that more were willing to get their jabs during the fifth wave.

She said most of the more than 700 members of her organisation were living alone and needed to get inoculated, including people with physical disabilities, visual impairments and hearing loss.

“Many disabled persons live alone without family support. They find it difficult to move around to get a jab, while some are worried about going out and getting infected,” she said, urging the HKCSS to vaccinate disabled residents as soon as possible.

Social welfare legislator Tik Chi-yuen said he believed that more than 100,000 residents were in need of the vaccination service.

The lawmaker called on the government to play a bigger role by allocating more manpower and resources to the initiative as well as boosting departmental cooperation to find those in need, rather than relying solely on NGOs.

With the combined efforts of NGOs and local authorities, Tik said he believed the programme could cover about 90 per cent of those in need, but urged both groups to immediately vaccinate all known eligible residents while searching for other recipients.

“They are the most vulnerable, high-risk group. We must vaccinate them as soon as possible,” he said.

A government spokesman said on Tuesday the door-to-door vaccination programme by the HKCSS was a good initiative, adding that authorities were also planning to provide home inoculation services for those with mobility issues.

In addition to providing jabs to homebound residents, the government has sent outreach teams to vaccinate seniors and disabled persons at more than 1,000 care facilities by this week.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Hong Kong News
0:00
0:00
Close
It's always the people with the dirty hands pointing their fingers
Paper straws found to contain long-lasting and potentially toxic chemicals - study
FTX's Bankman-Fried headed for jail after judge revokes bail
Blackrock gets half a trillion dollar deal to rebuild Ukraine
Steve Jobs' Son Launches Venture Capital Firm With $200 Million For Cancer Treatments
Google reshuffles Assistant unit, lays off some staffers, to 'supercharge' products with A.I.
End of Viagra? FDA approved a gel against erectile dysfunction
UK sanctions Russians judges over dual British national Kara-Murza's trial
US restricts visa-free travel for Hungarian passport holders because of security concerns
America's First New Nuclear Reactor in Nearly Seven Years Begins Operations
Southeast Asia moves closer to economic unity with new regional payments system
Political leader from South Africa, Julius Malema, led violent racist chants at a massive rally on Saturday
Today Hunter Biden’s best friend and business associate, Devon Archer, testified that Joe Biden met in Georgetown with Russian Moscow Mayor's Wife Yelena Baturina who later paid Hunter Biden $3.5 million in so called “consulting fees”
'I am not your servant': IndiGo crew member, passenger get into row over airline meal
Singapore Carries Out First Execution of a Woman in Two Decades Amid Capital Punishment Debate
Spanish Citizenship Granted to Iranian chess player who removed hijab
US Senate Republican Mitch McConnell freezes up, leaves press conference
Speaker McCarthy says the United States House of Representatives is getting ready to impeach Joe Biden.
San Francisco car crash
This camera man is a genius
3D ad in front of Burj Khalifa
Next level gaming
BMW driver…
Google testing journalism AI. We are doing it already 2 years, and without Google biased propoganda and manipulated censorship
Unlike illegal imigrants coming by boats - US Citizens Will Need Visa To Travel To Europe in 2024
Musk announces Twitter name and logo change to X.com
The politician and the journalist lost control and started fighting on live broadcast.
The future of sports
Unveiling the Black Hole: The Mysterious Fate of EU's Aid to Ukraine
Farewell to a Music Titan: Tony Bennett, Renowned Jazz and Pop Vocalist, Passes Away at 96
Alarming Behavior Among Florida's Sharks Raises Concerns Over Possible Cocaine Exposure
Transgender Exclusion in Miss Italy Stirs Controversy Amidst Changing Global Beauty Pageant Landscape
Joe Biden admitted, in his own words, that he delivered what he promised in exchange for the $10 million bribe he received from the Ukraine Oil Company.
TikTok Takes On Spotify And Apple, Launches Own Music Service
Global Trend: Using Anti-Fake News Laws as Censorship Tools - A Deep Dive into Tunisia's Scenario
Arresting Putin During South African Visit Would Equate to War Declaration, Asserts President Ramaphosa
Hacktivist Collective Anonymous Launches 'Project Disclosure' to Unearth Information on UFOs and ETIs
Typo sends millions of US military emails to Russian ally Mali
Server Arrested For Theft After Refusing To Pay A Table's $100 Restaurant Bill When They Dined & Dashed
The Changing Face of Europe: How Mass Migration is Reshaping the Political Landscape
China Urges EU to Clarify Strategic Partnership Amid Trade Tensions
The Last Pour: Anchor Brewing, America's Pioneer Craft Brewer, Closes After 127 Years
Democracy not: EU's Digital Commissioner Considers Shutting Down Social Media Platforms Amid Social Unrest
Sarah Silverman and Renowned Authors Lodge Copyright Infringement Case Against OpenAI and Meta
Why Do Tech Executives Support Kennedy Jr.?
The New York Times Announces Closure of its Sports Section in Favor of The Athletic
BBC Anchor Huw Edwards Hospitalized Amid Child Sex Abuse Allegations, Family Confirms
Florida Attorney General requests Meta CEO's testimony on company's platforms' alleged facilitation of illicit activities
The Distorted Mirror of actual approval ratings: Examining the True Threat to Democracy Beyond the Persona of Putin
40,000 child slaves in Congo are forced to work in cobalt mines so we can drive electric cars.
×