PATRICK NIP, secretary for the civil service of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government, on Sunday urged the public to take their third and fourth doses of COVID-19 vaccines timely.

Nip said on social media that the first and second dose vaccination rates of people aged 3 or above in Hong Kong have reached more than 90% and 80% respectively.

Nip reminded people that the protective efficacy of vaccines will reduce with time. Except for children who took BioNTech vaccines, all age groups should take three doses of the vaccines. He said experts recommended people aged 60 or above to receive an additional dose, the fourth dose, of the vaccine three months after their last dose to increase protection.

HKSAR Chief Executive Carrie Lam last week also appealed to people aged 60 or above who had received three doses of the COVID-19 vaccine to get the fourth dose in a timely manner. “Currently, the first-dose vaccination rate of the age group of 3 to 11 and that of 70 or above account for some 60% and some 70% respectively of the relevant populations, far lower than that of the other age groups,” Lam said.

The HKSAR government has been stepping up efforts to boost the vaccination rates of children and the elderly, as a matter of priority, to reduce their risk of hospitalization, serious complication or even death upon infection, she added.

On Sunday, Hong Kong registered 446 new COVID-19 cases by nucleic acid tests, and 301 additional positive cases through self-reported rapid antigen tests, official data showed. (Xinhua)