HKSAR gov't official urges public to take 3rd, 4th COVID-19 vaccine doses timely

HONG KONG, April 17 (Xinhua) -- Patrick Nip, secretary for the civil service of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government, 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 three or above in Hong Kong have reached more than 90 percent and 80 percent 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.

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.