The government intends to extend the coverage of the "Vaccine Pass" from 12 years old or above to 5 years old or above. Details are to be announced this week. It is expected that children between the ages of 5 and 11 will have to receive two doses of the new crown vaccine at the end before they can enter restaurants and playgrounds and other applicable premises.
Some social groups are concerned that this arrangement may affect children's rights, while others believe that children themselves may not always be able to carry mobile phones or paper needle cards by themselves.
Regarding the vaccination of minors, the Hong Kong government first allowed 16 to 17-year-olds to be vaccinated with Fubitai vaccine in April 2021, and it was further changed to 12-year-old in June, and the Sinovac vaccine was also relaxed to the same standard at the end of the year.
Later, when faced with the fifth wave of the epidemic in February this year, the authorities lowered the minimum age of vaccination for Fubitai and Kexing vaccines to five and three years respectively, and last month, children between six months and three years old could be vaccinated. Sinovac vaccines, and are negotiating the purchase of Fubitai children's vaccines.
The third phase of the Vaccine Pass came into effect on May 31. On May 29, many people went for injections at the Yuanhe Road Stadium, Shatin, where the Kexing vaccine was vaccinated, and the third injection was expected to account for the most.
(Photo by Zhang Haowei)
Young children have low vaccination rates and high proportion of confirmed diagnoses
However, half a year after the authorities allowed children under the age of 11 to be vaccinated against the new crown, there is still room for improvement in their vaccination rate.
As of this Monday (September 5), the vaccination rate of Hong Kong's population aged 3 to 11 was only 81.25% for the first dose, 67.05% for the second dose and 13.54% for the third dose, which is the same as that of the 12-year-old. In stark contrast, the vaccination rates for the first two doses in the groups up to 59 years old were over 95%.
In contrast, the recent increase in confirmed cases among young children is indeed faster than that of other groups.
There were 2,773 reported cases in the 3 to 11-year-old group in April this year, but in August this year, the number of reported cases has increased by more than six times to 17,373, which is much higher than the less than four times increase in the total number of other cases, and ranks among the highest among all age groups. crown.
In terms of monthly case share, the proportion of patients aged 3 to 11 has increased from 5.9% in April to 9.3% in August, which is higher than 6.8% of the population in this age group. people worry.
Just last month, the World Health Organization updated an interim statement on childhood vaccination against the new crown, which reiterated that vaccines help prevent children or young people from contracting the disease, the benefits of vaccination outweigh the risks, and the side effects are no higher than adults, and special emphasis is placed on school children. Vaccination can also reduce the pressure on schools to prevent the spread of the virus, thereby avoiding disruption to their educational process.
All of these observations are backed up by sufficient scientific research and are believed to be worthy of the recognition of all sectors of the Hong Kong society.
Incentive measures should be combined with positive encouragement
On the other hand, although it is understandable and necessary for the government to use "vaccine passports" to target young children with "valley needles", as shown in the early stages of opening up adult vaccinations in the past, providing incentives should not only be limited or punitive measures, but Some positive measures should be combined to complement each other. For example, facilities under the Leisure and Cultural Services Department may consider reducing or exempting the fees for vaccinated children, or legislation to allow parents employed in private enterprises to enjoy the "children's escort" on a par with government employees. Needle Fake".
In addition, the Hong Kong government also needs to think about how to increase the convenience of children's use of "vaccine passports".
A member of the Legislative Council recently suggested adding a "Parent-Child Injection Card" function to "Safe Travel", so that parents or caregivers can add their children's vaccination records to it.
Under the premise of obtaining the consent of the parents and the parties concerned and ensuring that privacy is not violated, the authorities may even improve the "verification QR code scanner" used by the venue managers, so that they can add other convenient identification methods to automatically verify the vaccination records. options.
Finally, it needs to be emphasized that any "needle needle" measures should not affect schoolchildren's normal classroom education.
At present, all schools in Hong Kong have already implemented the "Vaccination Pass" under the Education Bureau's "School Health Guidelines". Although students who do not need to carry out activities without wearing masks are exempted, they and their staff would have to take a rapid test every day before returning to school. The risk of the epidemic is undoubtedly lower than in other places, and the relevant exemption arrangements are fully maintained under conditions. Only in this way can it meet the most fundamental purpose of protecting the rights and interests of children.
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