Government’s outreach COVID-19 vaccination team visits Tai O (with photos)
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The Government’s outreach COVID-19 vaccination team visited Tai O today (October 16) to provide vaccination services to residents, in particular elderly persons, living in relatively remote areas there. A total of 127 elderly and other residents in Tai O took part in a vaccination activity which provided them with one-stop services consisting of a health talk and medical consultation to learn more about COVID-19 vaccines. The outreach team also administered the Sinovac vaccine to them on site.
Viewing the outreach service and expressing support for the vaccination of elderly persons at Tai O Community Centre, the Secretary for the Civil Service, Mr Patrick Nip, said, “We note that there is no clinic providing COVID-19 vaccination services to residents in Tai O and this may cause inconvenience to elderly residents who usually have activities in places close to their homes. The arrival of the outreach team helps to fill a service gap and enables them to get vaccinated in a convenient manner without having to travel to urban areas for vaccinations.
“In fact, the stilt houses, the old temples and the creek in Tai O are tourist spots with high people flows during holidays. For the sake of their own health, elderly residents in Tai O should get vaccinated as soon as possible to protect themselves even though they do not go out very often. Under the threat posed by the highly transmissible mutant strains, elderly persons who are not vaccinated will be subject to the extremely high risk of getting seriously ill and death from COVID-19 infection. Both COVID-19 vaccines available in Hong Kong are safe and highly effective in protecting against severe disease and death from COVID-19 infection.”
Experts recommend that elderly persons should receive a COVID-19 vaccination as soon as possible, as long as they are not suffering from acute illnesses. All elderly persons who have previously received influenza vaccines can safely receive COVID-19 vaccines.
Mr Nip also took the opportunity to visit residents in a stilt house. He expressed gratitude to local organisations in Tai O for their promotion of vaccinations in the community, and to the medical team and administrative support staff of the Community Vaccination Centre at Tin Fai Road Sports Centre for providing the outreach service.
Today’s activity was jointly organised by the Islands District Office and the Tai O Rural Committee, and co-organised by the Central, Western, Southern and Islands District Social Welfare Office with the participation of various local organisations.
Meanwhile, a health talk cum COVID-19 vaccination activity for elderly people in Sha Tin District was held at Yuen Chau Kok Community Hall today. An outreach team was on site to administer the Sinovac vaccine to elderly people and other residents. Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui Welfare Council also organised a COVID-19 vaccination day at SKH Holy Carpenter Church Community Centre today for users of the Council’s service units such as district elderly community centres, neighbourhood elderly centres and day care centres for the elderly. Mr Nip was also present at both events to support and encourage elderly persons to receive a COVID-19 vaccination.