All Hong Kong schools should be required to join flu vaccine scheme: expert
Government adviser on vaccines says schools that decline to take part should also have to explain decision
Professor Lau Yu-lung, chairman of the Scientific Committee on Vaccine Preventable Diseases, on Monday also defended the government’s earlier move to name 168 schools that had refused to join an optional vaccine outreach drive. Some principals had hit out at authorities over the decision.
The expert said pressure on the public health system would be alleviated if the flu vaccination rates for children aged below six and residents aged 65 and above reached 70 to 80 per cent. Both rates currently only stand at about 47 per cent and 45 per cent, respectively.
Lau suggested signing up all schools to the inoculation programme from the next academic year, instead of allowing participation on a voluntary basis. He added schools that opted out of the scheme should have to offer explanations.
“If schools choose not to join, you have to sign a form to state the decision for not joining and we hope they offer the reasons for refusal and what the problems are,” he said.
Health authorities and schools should consider how to address the reasons cited by institutions that declined the vaccinations, he said.
