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The Executive Council this morning endorsed a vaccination programme for human swine influenza, Chief Executive Donald Tsang said today.
The programme will involve procuring vaccines for health workers, children aged from six months to six years, seniors aged 65 and above, and people at higher risk of death and complications from swine flu due to pre-existing medical conditions.
After the ExCo meeting this morning, Mr Tsang said while the virus appears to be mild, it could become more virulent if it mutates during the flu season.
He said local transmission of the virus will inevitably take place in Hong Kong based on the recent development of disease transmission overseas and locally.
"To win this long battle against the human swine flu, the key is to stay alert and plan ahead at all times," he said.
Funding approval to be sought
At a press conference this afternoon, Secretary for Food & Health Dr York Chow said these four target groups amount to about 2 million in total. But it is up to individuals to decide whether they want to take the vaccine or not as this is a voluntary scheme.
The ExCo decided to order an extra 1 million doses for those who want to pay for the vaccination. Since each person requires two doses, 500,000 people could benefit from this measure. This category of individuals will not be subsidised.
Dr Chow said the 5 million doses are insurance to safeguard public health in case there is an outbreak in Hong Kong. Taking an early decision is the only way to secure an adequate supply of vaccines. The total cost is estimated to be about $700 million.
"Tomorrow, I shall brief the Health Panel of the Legislative Council on details of these vaccinations programmes. On June 19, we will seek funding approval of about $1 billion from the Finance Committee," Dr Chow said.
The Government will prepare a tender for the eventual procurement of the vaccines. As there is a lag of several months between placing the order and its delivery, the order must be placed now.
Vaccines for elderly approved
The vaccine is now in development. After obtaining necessary registration approval from the relevant drug authorities, the Government will start the actual vaccination.
The Executive Council has also decided to give those elderly aged 65 and above pneumococcal and seasonal flu vaccines for free as the two vaccines play an important role alongside the swine flu vaccine in mitigating an epidemic's impact in Hong Kong. The cost of this programme is about $300 million.
All these vaccinations can take place in public hospitals and clinics, or in private hospitals and clinics.
Dr Chow called on private doctors to help out the community in the spirit of cooperation in the fight against a pandemic. Public health must come first in their consideration.
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