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Saturday, Feb 22, 2025
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Govt working on vaccination for toddlers aged below three
Secretary for Health Lo Chung-mau said the government has been working alongside vaccine experts in hope of administering Covid-19 vaccines to toddlers aged three or below in the future, as the new health minister warned against co-existing with the virus.
Lo wrote in his blog published Tuesday that seven kids aged below 11 have died of Covid already in the fifth wave, with the youngest one being an 11-month-old baby.
He went on to say that citizens should not treat Covid as if it is only a flu, and cited figures released by the University of Hong Kong that 1.8 percent of over 1,000 children aged below 11 were sent to intensive care after they caught Covid.
The death rate stood at 0.2 percent, on the other hand.
The risk of children infected with Covid developing encephalitis reached 15 percent as well, twice or more of that for youngsters who caught the seasonal flu.
Other lingering syndromes include Long Covid and multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children, Lo noted.
The new health minister pointed out that Hong Kong must persist in controlling the pandemic and minimizing local infections, and could never “lie flat” and co-exist with the coronavirus.
He added many parents are nervous about new coronavirus mutations and the rebounding numbers in local infections, but stressed protecting the lives and health of the next generation is the responsibility of the whole society.
He went on to say that citizens should not treat Covid as if it is only a flu, and cited figures released by the University of Hong Kong that 1.8 percent of over 1,000 children aged below 11 were sent to intensive care after they caught Covid.
The death rate stood at 0.2 percent, on the other hand.
The risk of children infected with Covid developing encephalitis reached 15 percent as well, twice or more of that for youngsters who caught the seasonal flu.
Other lingering syndromes include Long Covid and multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children, Lo noted.
The new health minister pointed out that Hong Kong must persist in controlling the pandemic and minimizing local infections, and could never “lie flat” and co-exist with the coronavirus.
He added many parents are nervous about new coronavirus mutations and the rebounding numbers in local infections, but stressed protecting the lives and health of the next generation is the responsibility of the whole society.
