The Government today announced that it will set up 16 private clinic COVID-19 vaccination stations across the city. Reservations for free vaccination services at these stations can be made from 9am tomorrow.

Among the new vaccination stations, 15 will start operation on September 1 while the remaining one will begin service on September 15. They will provide the Sinovac vaccine for people aged six months or above and the BioNTech vaccine for those aged 12 or above.

People can make reservations for a free vaccination through the booking system of the COVID-19 Vaccination Programme from 9am tomorrow. Those aged 60 or above may obtain same-day tickets directly at the stations without making an appointment.

Secretary for the Civil Service Ingrid Yeung said that more than 600,000 and 300,000 people received their second dose of a COVID-19 vaccine in March and April. Since the six-month grace period under the vaccine pass for them is about to lapse, they need to receive their third dose in September or October.

In addition, the minimum age for receiving the Sinovac vaccine has been lowered to six months old and people aged 50 or above who have completed three vaccine doses can also receive the fourth dose at least three months after their last dose.

Therefore, the Government must get prepared and increase the number of vaccination venues in September, she explained.

Mrs Yeung emphasised that the launch of the new vaccination stations not only makes use of the existing medical facilities on the market to raise the daily vaccination throughput, but also provides more choices which are more convenient to the public.

“We expect to set up another batch of private clinic COVID-19 vaccination stations in October to further expand the distribution of vaccination venues in districts, and to give latitude for gradually taking over certain community vaccination centres (CVCs) set up in sports centres.”

In the past, people who wished to be vaccinated at private healthcare institutions enrolled in the BioNTech Vaccination Pilot Scheme had to find the list of institutions online and then make appointments with the institutions themselves.

Noting that the above process was relatively complex, Mrs Yeung said the Government hopes to improve the service by setting up the private clinic COVID-19 vaccination stations so that the public can make appointments through the designated website for receiving the Sinovac or BioNTech vaccine for free at the stations.

The stations are situated at locations with convenient transportation links and are fully equipped. The vaccination service provided there is administered by medical professionals and the procedures for receiving the jabs are similar to that in CVCs.