This undated photo shows the Centre for Health Protection of the Department of Health, Hong Kong. (PHOTO / HKSAR GOVERNMENT)

HONG KONG – The scientific committees under the Centre for Health Protection of the Department of Health have recommended a booster dose for five high-risk priority groups in Hong Kong at least six months after the last dose or COVID-19 infection, whichever is later.

At a meeting on Wednesday, the Scientific Committee on Vaccine Preventable Diseases and the Scientific Committee on Emerging and Zoonotic Diseases updated the consensus interim recommendations on the use of COVID-19 vaccines in the city taking into account the latest recommendations by the World Health Organization and the local situation of COVID-19, overseas practice and latest scientific evidence.

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The high-risk priority groups cover adults aged 50 or above, including those living in residential care homes, people aged 18 to 49 years with underlying comorbidities, people with immunocompromising conditions aged six months and above, pregnant women and health care workers, the government said in a statement.

Regardless of the number of doses received previously, high-risk groups should receive a booster dose before a possible COVID-19 winter surge, said the experts  

The experts recommended that these groups – regardless of the number of doses received previously – should receive a booster dose as recommended by the joint scientific committees, before a possible COVID-19 winter surge in the upcoming months.

They also highly recommended members of the public, especially those high-risk individuals, to receive vaccines for COVID-19 and seasonal influenza at the same time at the soonest to guard against the possible COVID-19 upsurge and flu season which may appear simultaneously.

Any available vaccines – inactivated/mRNA ancestral strain vaccines or mRNA bivalent vaccines – should be used before the possible winter surge since they continue to provide benefits against severe disease, they said during the meeting. 

In this connection, the CHP urged citizens, in particular high-risk groups, to receive the COVID-19 jab as early as possible.

While discussing the use of the new generation XBB mRNA vaccine, the committee members reviewed the latest epidemiology, scientific evidence of relevant vaccines, and overseas vaccination practice, and considered that the XBB vaccine, when available in Hong Kong, could be used. 

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In case of a limited local supply of the XBB vaccine, priority should be given to those with higher risks –elderly persons living at residential care homes, they said.