The overall figure of child vaccination rates across the city is 18.3%, though some reports have revealed a shortage of flu vaccines in the city – an issue the Department of Health has promised to address by the start of next month.
The initiative, by Baptist Rainbow Primary School, began in 2015 when the school invited NGOs to give flu vaccines to students during classes. This led to a vaccination rate of 54%.
However, this year, the school is going one step further by requiring parents to submit an explanation if they refused to allow their children to be vaccinated. The move subsequently boosted its participation rate to 74% among 550 pupils.
Baptist Rainbow Primary School principal, Chu Tsz-wing, said the school wanted to reduce the trouble of parents having to bring their children back and forth from the clinics.
“We are not forcing anyone to take the flu vaccine, it is entirely up to parents and we respect their decisions,” he Tsz-wing said.
“However, if some of them do not want their kids to participate, we just want to understand why, to facilitate communication between the school and parents.”
Following the initiative’s success, experts are urging Hong Kong’s government to provide schools with more incentives to roll out similar schemes.
Ho Pak-leung, a microbiologist at the University of Hong Kong, told The South China Morning Post that the measures adopted are of high value and can be referenced by other schools.
“Giving injections in schools is the most efficient way of gathering the age group and getting them vaccinated,” Pak-leung said.
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