Government, community and trade work together to visit elderly to encourage COVID-19 vaccination (with photos)
17.9.2022

To further encourage elderly persons to receive COVID-19 vaccination for self-protection, various government departments worked with a district group and the property management sector to roll out at Tsz Hong and Tsz Man Estates in Wong Tai Sin a pilot scheme to visit elderly persons in order to encourage them to receive COVID-19 vaccination. For two consecutive days starting from today (September 17), they will pay door-to-door visits to households with elderly persons aged 70 or above at the two estates. The Civil Service Bureau (CSB), the Home Affairs Department and the Housing Department, selected Wong Tai Sin as the trial run district and worked with district group Wong Tai Sin Community Anti-Coronavirus Link and the Hong Kong Association of Property Services Agents to roll out the pilot scheme at the above public housing estates to actively encourage elderly persons aged 70 or above to receive COVID-19 vaccination and arrange them to participate in vaccination events in the district, or to arrange for the Home Vaccination Service for elderly persons in need. The Secretary for the Civil Service, Mrs Ingrid Yeung; the Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs, Miss Alice Mak; the Director of Home Affairs, Mrs Alice Cheung; the Deputy Director of Housing (Estate Management), Mr Ricky Yeung; the District Officer (Wong Tai Sin), Mr Steve Wong; the convener of the Wong Tai Sin Community Anti-Coronavirus Link, Mr Ho Hon-man; and the Chairman of the Hong Kong Association of Property Services Agents, Mr Poon Kin-leung, attended a launch ceremony of the pilot scheme at Tsz Man Estate. After the ceremony, government staff, volunteers of the district group and property management staff set off in eight teams to visit the elderly persons living in eight buildings. "Receiving COVID-19 vaccination can minimise the risks of falling seriously ill and death should one get infected. We have been contacting unvaccinated elderly persons to encourage them to receive vaccination by various channels via the elderly recipient lists of various allowances under the Social Welfare Department, the membership lists of the Elderly Health Centres of the Department of Health and lists of elderly patients with follow-up appointments at the general out-patient clinics of the Hospital Authority as well as by commissioning the Senior Citizen Home Safety Association to approach its care-on-call service users. The pilot scheme rolled out today is the fifth channel of reaching out to the individuals in need of vaccination by bringing together various government departments, the forces from the district group and friends from the property management sector, etc. By doing our best, taking one step further and overcoming all challenges, we hope to convince the elderly and remind members of the public who have not received the suitable doses of vaccine in a timely manner to get the recommend doses on time as soon as possible," Mrs Yeung said. Miss Mak said, "Increasing the vaccination rate plays an important part in the Government's anti-epidemic work. Since August, District Offices have stepped up COVID-19 vaccination activities in various districts and organised around 40 vaccination activities together with various district units including women's groups, Kaifong associations, clansman associations, schools, rural committees and the Hong Kong Community Anti-Coronavirus Link. I thank the Wong Tai Sin Community Anti-Coronavirus Link and the Hong Kong Association of Property Services Agents for their active collaboration in the pilot scheme, and their participation in household visits at the two estates, encouraging the elderly residents to receive vaccination." The CSB will jointly organise a community vaccination event with the Wong Tai Sin District Office at the assembly hall of St Bonaventure Catholic Primary School in Tsz Wan Shan from noon to 6pm tomorrow (September 18). An outreach medical team will provide vaccination service for members of the public on-site. Two kinds of COVID-19 vaccine will be provided concurrently for the public to choose at the event. Persons aged 6 months or above may receive the Sinovac vaccine and persons aged 12 or above may also opt for the BioNTech vaccine. The arrangement is applicable to eligible persons for their first, second, third or fourth vaccine dose. Members from the district are welcome to join on the spot. Depending on the response to the pilot scheme, the Government will consider extending the scheme to other major public housing estates in Wong Tai Sin District or public housing estates in other districts. The designated website for the COVID-19 Vaccination Programme ( www.covidvaccine.gov.hk/en/programme ) provides the latest information including details on vaccination venues, reservation and enquiry hotlines.