Hong Kong to expand eligible group for COVID-19 booster shot

HONG KONG, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- Eligible groups to receive a booster shot of COVID-19 vaccines will be expanded to cover more people in Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government announced Thursday.

All people who received two doses of the Sinovac vaccine, with the second dose received at least 180 days ago can make reservations for as well as receive a third dose of the COVID-19 vaccines starting from Nov. 23.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong's Center for Health Protection (CHP) on Thursday reported four new imported cases of COVID-19, taking the total confirmed cases in the financial hub to 12,395.

A total of 39 cases have been reported in the past 14 days and all were imported, according to the CHP.

Since the launch of the government inoculation program in late February, around 4.69 million people, or 69.6 percent of the eligible population, have taken at least one shot of the vaccines, while around 4.49 million, or 66.7 percent are fully vaccinated.

A total of 64,104 people have taken the booster shot in Hong Kong.