Q1. Why have I not yet received the e-consent QR code from my child's school?
The Department of Health has issued school-specific e-consent QR codes to all schools participating in the Seasonal Influenza Vaccination School Outreach Programme, with all QR codes taking effect on August 17. Arrangements for distributing the QR code to parents vary among individual schools. If the QR code cannot be obtained in a timely manner, parents may use paper consent forms to arrange vaccination for their child. Parents may make inquiries directly to the school their children attend.
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Q2. How can I submit the e-consent for my child to receive seasonal influenza vaccination?
After obtaining the school-specific e-consent QR code, please follow the steps below: (1) Log in to the parent's personal “eHealth” mobile application. (2) Use the built-in scanning function to scan the school-specific QR code provided by your child's school. (3) Follow the system instructions to select your child's profile, verify and fill in all required information. (4) Carefully read the vaccination terms and conditions, then submit the e-consent for your child. (Video guide: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULJ45COv_1o)
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Q3. Do both parents/guardians and children/wards need an eHealth account for e-consent submission?
Yes. Both parents/guardians and children/wards must hold valid eHealth accounts and complete family member linkage in the system before submitting the e-consent for receiving seasonal influenza vaccination. Parents/guardians or children/wards who have not yet registered for the eHealth mobile application can also complete the registration using “HA Go” or “iAM Smart” mobile applications. For detailed registration methods for the eHealth mobile application, parents may visit our website (https://www.chp.gov.hk/en/features/110349.html).
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Q4. My child is already registered with eHealth. Part IV “Consent to Register with eHealth” of the paper-based “Seasonal Influenza Vaccination School Outreach Programme - Consent Form” only offers two options, namely “I AGREE to register with eHealth” and “Opt Out of eHealth Registration”. Do I need to complete Part IV?
If your child has already completed eHealth registration, Part IV could be left blank and does not require completion. Part IV is for vaccine recipients who have not yet registered with eHealth, to give consent for registration or opt-out of eHealth registration. There is no need for children already registered with eHealth to go through registration again. Parents only need to complete and sign Part I and Part II of the paper consent form for submission. The paper consent form samples are available at: https://www.chp.gov.hk/en/features/100782.html.
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Q5. Can I still use paper consent forms?
E-consent is a user-friendly option newly introduced by the Department of Health. Parents may follow the school’s arrangements and guidelines to choose either electronic or paper submission for the vaccination consent forms.
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Q6. Can I withdraw or amend my submitted e-consent?
If parents need to amend their vaccination preference or withdraw a submitted e-consent, please promptly contact their child's school and notify the Department of Health by email at sivop@dh.gov.hk, providing contact telephone number and email address, to facilitate follow-up arrangements.
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Q7. Do I still need to submit a paper consent form after submitting the e-consent?
To avoid duplicate records, confusion and administrative errors, parents only need to choose one method to submit the vaccination consent form. Once an e-consent has been successfully submitted, there is generally no need to submit a paper consent form. In case of duplicate submissions or discrepancies in vaccination information or intentions between the two consent forms, the school will proactively contact parents to verify their latest vaccination preference and take the parent’s final confirmation as the basis for implementation.
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Q8. What should I do if the e-consent QR code has expired?
The school-specific e-consent QR code for the current academic year is valid only for a designated submission period and will expire automatically upon the deadline. If necessary, parents may contact the school directly to obtain and submit a paper consent form to arrange vaccination for their child.
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Q9. I have several children studying in different schools. How should I handle this?
Each participating school has a unique school-specific QR code, which cannot be used across schools. Parents should obtain the corresponding school-specific QR code separately from each of their children’s schools and submit individual e-consent forms separately. When filling in the form, please double-check that the school displayed on the e-consent is the one that the respective child attends.
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Q10. Can parents choose the vaccine type for their child?
Vaccine types for the Seasonal Influenza Vaccination School Outreach Programme are planned and arranged uniformly by participating schools. Only if a school opts to provide both injectable inactivated influenza vaccines and nasal-spray live-attenuated influenza vaccines (i.e. hybrid mode) can parents select the vaccine type for their child when submitting the e-consent form. Parents are advised to carefully read the vaccination terms, target recipients, contraindications and other notes before submission.
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Q11. What if my child is absent or unwell on the school outreach vaccination day and misses the vaccination? How can they receive catch-up vaccination?
Students who miss the vaccination due to absence, sickness, or other reasons on the outreach day may attend catch-up sessions arranged by the school or outreach medical team, subject to individual school arrangements. Alternatively, parents may bring their child to a private clinic participating in the Vaccination Subsidy Scheme (VSS) to receive a catch-up influenza vaccination on a subsidised or self-paid basis.
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Q12. Is there any difference in content between the paper consent form and the e-consent?
For the purpose of parents submitting consent, the paper consent form and e-consent are identical in content. To avoid duplicate records, confusion and administrative errors, parents only need to choose one method to submit the vaccination consent forms.