The latest vaccination advice was made by the scientific committees under the Centre for Health Protection, referring to the latest adjustments by the World Health Organization (WHO), Hung said on a radio program Saturday morning.

Medical workers, chronic disease patients, and people aged 50 or above are high-risk individuals and should also get a booster shot six months after their previous shot or recovery from Covid.

Healthy adults below the age of 50, from six-month-old toddlers to 17-year-old teens, need not another booster shot if they are fully vaccinated.

As for authorities’ decision that citizens in non-high-risk groups will have to pay for their fourth vaccine shot starting April 20, Hung said the arrangement was reasonable. He also believed citizens proactively get their fourth shot before traveling overseas.

Hung’s comment was echoed by Secretary for Health Lo Chung-mau, who said the fight against Covid has entered a new stage, and citizens in non-high-risk groups can decide on their own if they want to get the shot or not.

Meanwhile, Hung expected the pandemic development may rebound in June or July, as the level of antibodies in citizens’ bodies may drop.

Yet, he noted the immunity barrier in the community is still here, and citizens don’t need to worry too much, as they will develop only mild symptoms even if they catch Covid.

Hung added he never thought a large-scale and serious outbreak would hit the city again following the SARS outbreak in 2003. He also recalled the fifth wave of the pandemic last year, which he said was a quite painful lesson that exposed some weaknesses in the healthcare system.