Swine flu vaccine jabs planned for vulnerable
(06-09 15:45)
The city's most vulnerable citizens are set for swine flu injections under a vaccination program that has been approved by the Executive Council.
The jabs will be free for health-care workers, children aged between six months and six years, elderly people aged 65 and older, and chronic patients.
The announcement at the end of an Exco meeting was made by Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen, who warned that the virus could mutate into a more virulent form during the current influenza season in the southern hemisphere.
''The consequences could be dire,'' he said, and ''we should do our best to avert this.''
The Food and Health Bureau will announce details of the vaccination program today.
The news came as the risks of local transmission grew with yet another three more cases that brought the total number to 41.
The new cases included two women who recently traveled to Las Vegas via Los Angeles and a man studying in Switzerland. All three are in quarantine.
''We shall act quickly to ensure an adequate and timely supply of vaccine,'' Tsang, adding that the vaccine is already under development and that Hong Kong must move quickly to reserve supples.
The World Health Organization says that as of yesterday 73 countries and places have officially reported more than 25,000 have been infected, including 139 deaths.
STAFF REPORTER
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