Secretary for Health Prof Lo Chung-mau received vaccinations against seasonal influenza and COVID-19 at Sai Wan Ho General Out-patient Clinic today. Other health officials also joined the effort and received vaccinations.

Prof Lo said that seasonal influenza vaccination (SIV) is one of the most effective means to prevent seasonal flu and its complications, adding that to get vaccinated once a year and to act sooner rather than later is preferable, since it takes about two weeks after vaccination for antibodies to develop in the body and provide protection against influenza virus infection.

He noted that the summer influenza season has already arrived, saying: “To be prepared for the possible winter influenza season in one go, I strongly appeal to all members of the public to receive SIV early for effective protection in the coming year against the influenza strains predicted by the World Health Organization.”

With the concerted efforts of the Government and various sectors of the community, more than 2.09 million doses of vaccines were administered under various SIV programmes in the year of 2024-25, representing an increase of 11.7% compared with the previous year, reaching a record high.

The Government will launch the 2025-26 Seasonal Influenza Vaccination Programmes on September 25 to provide free or subsidised SIV for people aged 50 or above, adults aged 18 to 49 with chronic medical conditions, children and adolescents aged six months to under 18 years, pregnant women and healthcare workers.

For the 2025-26 SIV programmes, the Government has procured over 1.28 million doses of four types of influenza vaccines of high quality at competitive prices.

Prof Lo added that the Government will allow all schools, ie secondary schools, primary schools and kindergartens/child care centres, under the Seasonal Influenza Vaccination School Outreach Programme to freely choose both injectable inactivated influenza vaccines and live attenuated influenza vaccines for the same or different outreach vaccination activities, aiming to raise the vaccination rate further with a more flexible arrangement.

The earliest school SIV outreach activity will take place on September 29.

Furthermore, to minimise the risk of serious complications and death after COVID-19 infection, those at high risk, particularly the elderly and persons with underlying comorbidities, should receive a free COVID-19 vaccine booster dose as soon as possible if they have received their last dose or had COVID-19 infection more than six months ago.

People who have not received the initial doses of the COVID-19 vaccine should also get free COVID-19 vaccination as soon as possible for dual protection. COVID-19 vaccine and SIV can be administered at the same time or separately.