The Government will provide the second dose of measles vaccine to children aged 18 months from the first half of 2020, Secretary for Food & Health Prof Sophia Chan announced.

Prof Chan told lawmakers today, under the Hong Kong Childhood Immunisation Programme, children are given the first dose of the combined Measles, Mumps and Rubella (MMR) vaccine when they are one year old at Maternal & Child Health Centres, followed by a second dose of the MMR vaccine at Primary One.

As varicella vaccine has been incorporated into the programme, children born on or after January 1, 2013, will receive combined Measles, Mumps, Rubella and Varicella (MMRV) vaccines as a second dose of measles-containing vaccines when they reach Primary One.

She said the Scientific Committee on Vaccine Preventable Diseases considered that those aged between one year and Primary One who received only one dose of MMR vaccine would have a higher risk of measles infection if they travel to places with high incidence or outbreak of measles. 

The committee thus recommended the second dose of MMRV vaccine to be advanced from Primary One to 18 months.

The Department of Health has already started planning for the change, including the arrangement of the tender process for vaccine procurement and other logistics and manpower issues.

It is estimated that the Maternal & Child Health Centres will provide the second dose of MMRV vaccine to children aged 18 months from the first half of next year.

She also noted the committee will hold a meeting in early April to discuss the measles-containing vaccination for non-immune adults.

The Centre for Health Protection will take note of the committee’s recommendations and announce the details in due course.