e-Bulletin December 2024

Outreach Vaccination Service in Local Schools
Visit by Government Officials Director of Health, Dr Ronald Lam, and Controller of the Centre for Health Protection, Dr Edwin Tsui

Seasonal influenza vaccination (SIV) remains the most effective approach to prevent seasonal influenza virus infection. For decades, many countries have adopted school-based SIV programmes to enhance vaccination rates among young children.

Since the 2018-19 season, the Department of Health of the HKSAR Government has launched school-based SIV service in local schools through the Vaccination Subsidy Scheme. Led by Professor Dennis Ip, Clinical Associate Professor and Head of Division of Community Medicine and Public Health Practice of the School, our health promotion team has been part of this programme for seven consecutive seasons. They visited various local kindergartens, primary and secondary schools, and have administered over 55,000 doses of influenza vaccine to students. Besides being one of the largest service providers in the territory, the team is also the only outreach services provider offering a free choice between the Inactivated Influenza Vaccine (IIV) by injection or the Live Attenuated Influenza Vaccine (LAIV) by nasal spray at school level. Supported by a commissioned Health and Medical Research Fund, Professor Ip’s team is assisting the Government in evaluating vaccine acceptability, the direct protective effect on the vaccinated children, as well as the indirect protection in the household, school and community levels.

The 2024-25 season marks a significant milestone as it is the very first time for service providers to be able to offer both IIV and LAIV within the same vaccination session. This new arrangement, known as the “hybrid mode”, aims to improve vaccine acceptance among children by providing free choice of vaccine type in the same school. Professor Ip’s team was visited by Director of Health, Dr Ronald Lam, and Controller of the Centre for Health Protection of the Department of Health, Dr Edwin Tsui, on November 4, 2024, to observe their outreach vaccination service and to promote vaccination under this new hybrid vaccination arrangement.

For more information, please visit here.