Commonground
Senior Moderator
Ends/Thursday, October 23, 2025
The Department of Health (DH) said today (October 23) that the Scientific Committee on Vaccine Preventable Diseases and the Scientific Committee on Emerging and Zoonotic Diseases (JSC) under the Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the DH convened a meeting early this week to discuss the use of COVID-19 vaccines in Hong Kong and updated their consensus recommendations.
Experts of the JSC opined that COVID-19 has become an endemic disease, with periodic surges in activity in Hong Kong approximately every six to nine months, primarily driven by a decrease in herd immunity and shifts in dominant SARS-CoV-2 variants. Over the past few years since 2023, hospitalisation rates, incidence rates of severe cases and mortality rates associated with COVID-19 have generally declined in a progressive manner in Hong Kong. However, the corresponding rates remain significantly higher among certain high risk groups, such as residents of residential care homes for the elderly (RCHEs) and the elderly aged 65 years or above. Related rates for other population groups, including healthy adults aged below 65 years and younger adults with chronic illnesses, have decreased to relatively low levels.
Having reviewed the latest local epidemiology, scientific evidence on relevant vaccines, recommendations from the World Health Organization and overseas vaccination practices, experts have issued the following recommendations on the use of the COVID-19 vaccines:
continued: https://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/202510/23/P2025102300198.htm
The Department of Health (DH) said today (October 23) that the Scientific Committee on Vaccine Preventable Diseases and the Scientific Committee on Emerging and Zoonotic Diseases (JSC) under the Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the DH convened a meeting early this week to discuss the use of COVID-19 vaccines in Hong Kong and updated their consensus recommendations.
Experts of the JSC opined that COVID-19 has become an endemic disease, with periodic surges in activity in Hong Kong approximately every six to nine months, primarily driven by a decrease in herd immunity and shifts in dominant SARS-CoV-2 variants. Over the past few years since 2023, hospitalisation rates, incidence rates of severe cases and mortality rates associated with COVID-19 have generally declined in a progressive manner in Hong Kong. However, the corresponding rates remain significantly higher among certain high risk groups, such as residents of residential care homes for the elderly (RCHEs) and the elderly aged 65 years or above. Related rates for other population groups, including healthy adults aged below 65 years and younger adults with chronic illnesses, have decreased to relatively low levels.
Having reviewed the latest local epidemiology, scientific evidence on relevant vaccines, recommendations from the World Health Organization and overseas vaccination practices, experts have issued the following recommendations on the use of the COVID-19 vaccines:
continued: https://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/202510/23/P2025102300198.htm