(To watch the full press briefing with sign language interpretation, click here.)

The Government announced today that it will lower the applicable age of the Vaccine Pass to five and shorten the grace period for those aged 12 or above to receive the third dose after the second dose from six months to five months.

Announcing the updated Vaccine Pass arrangements today, Under Secretary for Health Dr Libby Lee told a press briefing this afternoon that during the fifth wave of the epidemic, quite a number of severe cases involving children who required intensive care were recorded.

Among them, six children aged three to 11 passed away after infection, all of whom were unvaccinated or had received only one vaccine dose.

Dr Lee said the move aims to enhance protection for children.

“In order to, basically normalise (children’s) daily lives, so that (they can) maximise their opportunities to go outdoors to increase their social activities, while at the same time protect their health, the way out is actually to bring them for (a COVID-19) vaccination.

“This is not only (about) protecting your kids, but also is (about) protecting your neighbours’ kids. If we really want to normalise the lifestyle of (our) kids and bring them out (for activities), I would actually recommend everyone, the parents, to bring their kids for vaccination and complete the whole course of two doses.”

Starting from September 30, children aged five to 11 are required to have received at least the first dose within three months to comply with the vaccination requirements under the Vaccine Pass for entering specified premises.

If they received their first dose three months ago or earlier, they are required to receive the second dose in order to continue to be eligible for using the Vaccine Pass.

Starting from November 30, the vaccination requirement for all children aged five to 11 under the Vaccine Pass will be to have received the second dose.

Meanwhile, starting September 30, people aged 12 or above must receive the third dose within five months after receiving the second dose to continue using the Vaccine Pass afterwards.

From November 30, persons aged 12 or above are required to have received the third dose so as to meet the vaccination requirements under the Vaccine Pass.

Considering that children may not possess a smart mobile phone, children or their family members may bring along and present a paper record printed with the QR code or present a photo of the QR code saved in a mobile phone for the purpose of fulfilling the Vaccine Pass requirement.

Parents may also add their children as "My Family Member" in the eHealth mobile application so that they can retrieve and present their own Vaccine Pass as well as that of their children at the same time.

In addition, a new function will be added to the LeaveHomeSafe mobile application later to allow parents to save their own Vaccine Pass and that of their children concurrently.

In view of the new arrangements, Secretary for the Civil Service Ingrid Yeung said today the Government will increase the BioNTech vaccination quota for children aged five to 11 starting from tomorrow and online booking can be made from now on.

To tie in with the increased vaccination quota arrangement, more booths have been set up at the children community vaccination centres (CCVCs) at Hong Kong Children's Hospital and Osman Ramju Sadick Memorial Sports Centre.

Starting from September 11, the HKU CCVC at Gleneagles Hospital Hong Kong will extend its service to provide the BioNTech vaccine to children aged five to 11 on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.