World Immunization Week 2023 – The Big Catch-Up
2023-04-20
The COVID-19 pandemic severely disrupted routine immunisation programmes across the world, causing millions of children missing out on essential vaccinations against diseases. This year’s World Immunization Week, under the theme “The Big Catch-Up”, calls for a renewed global effort to accelerate rapid progress in getting routine immunisation activities back on track in order to restore coverage rates and ensure more people, particularly children, are protected from infections which may result in serious illness and disability.
#VaccinesWork
Immunisation is recognized as one of the most successful, safe and cost-effective public health interventions and protects millions of people each year globally from serious and often deadly diseases including measles, hepatitis B and even some forms of cancer. In Hong Kong, with the long-established childhood immunisation programme, poliomyelitis was eradicated locally in 2000 after global smallpox eradication in 1980, while measles and rubella were declared eliminated in 2016 and 2021 respectively.
As recommended by the Scientific Committee on Vaccine Preventable Diseases (SCVPD) under the Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health (DH), children from birth to primary six should receive different types of vaccines and boosters under the Hong Kong Childhood Immunisation Programme to protect them from tuberculosis, poliomyelitis, hepatitis B, diphtheria, whooping cough (pertussis), tetanus, pneumococcal infection, chickenpox, measles, mumps and rubella. To prevent cervical cancer, eligible female primary school students are provided with human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine.
Immunisation amid pandemic recovery
Immunisation services in the DH's Maternal and Child Health Centres (MCHCs) continue as usual throughout the pandemic. Vaccinations at primary schools have been arranged by the DH's School Immunisation Teams (SIT) through outreach to schools and students were arranged to receive vaccination at SIT sub-district offices which operated at extended hours to cater the increased demand during school suspension. At the same time, the Student Health Service Centres (SHSCs) provide catch-up immunisation for those secondary school students who have missed any of the recommended vaccine doses. As delays in vaccination will weaken the protection for the children against relevant infectious diseases, parents are reminded to maintain up-to-date immunisation for their children for timely and comprehensive protection.
Vaccination remains one of the top priorities on the road to recovery from the pandemic. It is important for people to receive the age-appropriate COVID-19 vaccine doses to achieve adequate protection against COVID-19 while SARS-CoV-2 virus is still circulating in the community. Parents and carers should consider taking eligible children for COVID-19 vaccination, which is also available at designated MCHCs and SHSCs.
With Hong Kong entering the influenza season since early April 2023, individuals at higher risk of getting influenza and its complications especially the elderly, children and persons having chronic medical problems, should receive seasonal influenza vaccine (SIV) for personal protection. SIV is one of the effective means to prevent seasonal influenza and its complications, as well as reduce influenza-related hospitalisation and death. All persons aged 6 months or above, except those with known contraindications, should receive SIV for personal protection.
To achieve administrative convenience and better vaccination coverage, the SCVPD and the Scientific Committee on Emerging and Zoonotic Diseases under the CHP of the DH joined by the Chief Executive's Expert Advisory Panel recommended that COVID-19 vaccines can be co-administered with SIV or other childhood immunisation vaccines on the same visit for vaccination under informed consent.