Vaccination programs to start on November 1

The government-led vaccination [?v?ks??ne???n](疫苗) programs will start on November 1.

According to the Centre for Health Protection(健康防御中心), the seasonal influenza [??nflu:?enz?] vaccine(季節(jié)性流感疫苗), whose composition [?k?mp??zi??n](成分) includes human [?hju:m?n](人類) swine flu vaccine(豬流感疫苗), has passed the safety standards(安全標(biāo)準(zhǔn)).

The program has been divided into(分為) two parts: one is a free government program and the other is a subsidy [?s?bsidi] scheme(補(bǔ)貼計(jì)劃).

The first will enable eligible [?elid??bl](符合條件的) groups to receive free seasonal influenza vaccination at Hospital Authority(醫(yī)院) or Department of Health clinics(門診部). The coverage includes the elderly people who live in residential care homes, people aged 65 or above with chronic [?kr?nik] illness(慢性病), those who are suffering from chronic illness and receiving Comprehensive Social Security Allowance(社會綜合保障援助) (CSSA), health care workers, children aged between 6 months and 6 years from families receiving CSSA, pregnant [?preɡn?nt](懷孕) women receiving CSSA and people working at pig farms and poultry [?p?ultri](家禽) factories.

The second part is a subsidy scheme for the HK residents aged 65 or above and children aged between 6 months and 6 years who wish to take the vaccination at private clinics(私人門診). Under this plan, the government will subsidize [?s?bsidaiz](補(bǔ)貼) the eligible elderly HK$130 for seasonal influenza vaccine and HK$190 for pneumococcal(肺炎球菌) vaccine. Subsidy for eligible children for seasonal influenza vaccine is HK$80.

The Center will later post [p?ust](標(biāo)注) in its website all relevant [?rel?v?nt](相關(guān)的) information like where the private clinics that have joined this plan are located. Last year around 1,400 private clinics joined the subsidy scheme.

Dr Thomas Tsang, controller at the Centre for Health Protection, sought to assure people that the human swine influenza (HSI) vaccine is safe.

Early this year there were reports of severe side-effects(嚴(yán)重的副作用) suffered by some citizens who had suddenly found that their legs had become weaker(更加沒力). That was the chief reason why many people got scared and were unwilling to be vaccinated. Tsang said a team of experts has been following up such cases and studying on the safety aspects of the vaccine since then. In the past 10 months, the side-effect of HSI vaccines has been found to be mild. The study also showed that HSI vaccines are not causally related to deaths, spontaneous [sp?n?teini?s] abortion(自然性流產(chǎn)), or stillbirth [?st?l?b?:θ](死產(chǎn)).

"According to studies conducted so far, we can say confidently that this vaccine is safe," said Tsang.

According to him, over 350 million doses(劑量) worldwide have been administered and the latest World Health Organization(世界衛(wèi)生組織) update(最新信息) also confirmed its safety.