HK seniors undergo 'quarantine in reverse'

Wall of immunity

By April 2, the fifth wave of COVID-19 in Hong Kong had claimed 8,705 lives, with 96 percent of the cases being adults who were 60 or older, most of them not vaccinated. Among the deaths, about 55 percent were residents from care homes. By April 6, a total of 1.18 million people in the city had been infected during the fifth wave.

Vaccination has been effective in preventing COVID-19 patients becoming severely ill and dying.

On March 22, the Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine at the University of Hong Kong released results of a study into 16,000 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 in the city. The study found that three vaccinations reduced the death rate among those who are 60 or older by 98 percent.

Lam, the city's chief executive, said in her daily COVID-19 media briefing on March 27 that nearly 90 percent of the deaths recorded during the fifth wave were unvaccinated cases or concerned those who had not had two jabs. The mortality rate for these cases was 18 times higher than for those who had been vaccinated at least twice, she said.

It is vital to get vaccinated, which is the only way to prevent severe illness and deaths, and also to get out of the "pandemic quagmire", Lam said.

Boosting vaccination among the elderly and children has been high on the Hong Kong government's agenda to build up a wall of immunity against the virus.

Hong Kong Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Law Chi-kwong, said vaccinations for the elderly in the city's 1,100 nursing homes and homes for the disabled made little headway, as only 22 percent of such residents received COVID-19 jabs after six months of efforts to boost inoculation before the fifth wave hit the city.

Law said in a post on his official blog on March 27, "We need to keep on trying, bearing in mind that one more person vaccinated is one more saved."

On March 18, government teams completed administering the first vaccinations for those at nursing homes and homes for the disabled whose health was considered suitable for COVID-19 jabs. By the middle of this month, the government hopes that second jabs will have been completed for these residents, as by this time the city will begin easing social distancing in a gradual return to normal operations.

More than 43,300 residents at these homes, or 56 percent, have received COVID-19 jabs.

As of April 6, more than 6.5 million of those aged 3 and older in the city had received their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccination, with nearly 2.9 million residents being given three jabs.

The government strived to bolster the vaccination rate, aiming for more than 90 percent of residents who are 12 or older to receive at least two COVID-19 jabs by the end of last month.

In a new initiative to boost the inoculation rate among the elderly, the city's Secretary for the Civil Service, Patrick Nip Tak-kuen, who is responsible for vaccination services, said on March 28 that the government would set up a registration website to provide such services door-to-door in an attempt to contact every resident.

At the end of last month, the government also started to arrange door-to-door inoculation services for unvaccinated adults who are 70 or older, along with people with disabilities.