An unvaccinated four-year-old child has been admitted to an intensive care unit with flu and a pneumococcal infection, Hong Kong’s health minister has said, stepping up pressure on schools to join the city’s vaccination drive.
Secretary for Health Lo Chung-mau also stressed that the pupil’s school had not arranged for on-site flu vaccinations offered by health authorities, arguing institutions had no justifiable reason to opt out of the government scheme.
“The child did not receive the flu shot and the child’s school did not join the [government’s] flu vaccination programme,” he said on a radio programme on Saturday.
Lo warned that six children died during last year’s flu season and had been among 35 severe cases admitted to hospital.
The minister said the latest data showed the public hospital admission rate for flu cases had already exceeded the flu season threshold.
The vaccination rate had increased by 5 per cent from the previous flu season, he noted.
