CE and Principal Officials Receive Seasonal Influenza Vaccination

2026-09-23 12:46 Last Updated At：14:54

CE and Principal Officials receive seasonal influenza vaccination

The Chief Executive, Mr John Lee, led a number of Principal Officials to receive seasonal influenza vaccination (SIV) today (September 23) and called on members of the public to get vaccinated as early as possible to build an immunity barrier in the community together and better protect their health and that of their family members.

Mr Lee said, "Vaccination is one of the most effective means for preventing seasonal influenza and its complications, as well as reducing the risk of hospitalisation and death arising from influenza. I appeal to members of the public to get vaccinated as early as possible to protect themselves and their family members."

Under the vigorous promotion by the Government, and with support from all sectors of the community, more than 2.03 million doses of vaccines were administered under various SIV programmes in the previous year (2025/26), with overall coverage rates of the target population remaining similar to those of the preceding year. Among children and adolescents, the SIV rate for persons aged 6 months to under 18 years reached 64.8 per cent, which is 13.1 percentage points higher than the average for the same period over the past three seasons (51.7 per cent). The vaccination rate for adolescents aged 12 to under 18 years reached 61.4 per cent, representing a substantial increase of 22.6 percentage points compared with the average for the same period over the past three seasons (38.8 per cent).

The Government-subsidised SIV programmes, including the Vaccination Subsidy Scheme, the Government Vaccination Programme, the SIV School Outreach Programme and the Residential Care Home Vaccination Programme, provide free or subsidised influenza vaccinations to children and adolescents aged 6 months to under 18 years, adults aged 18 to 49 with chronic medical conditions (regardless of financial status), persons aged 50 or above (including the elderly living in residential care homes), pregnant women and healthcare workers, and others.

To encourage and offer convenience to members of the public to receive SIV, the Government has implemented four optimising initiatives this year, namely optimising vaccine procurement arrangements with the diversified, non-single-supplier procurement approach; introducing a new Electronic Consent Form feature viaeHealth; increasing the number of influenza vaccine doses to 300 000 under the Pilot Scheme on Vaccine Procurement for Doctors and expanding the eligibility groups of doctors; as well as strengthening the mobilisation of community resources. The Government will also continue to implement the Civil Service Eligible Persons SIV Pilot Scheme this year. Since civil servants frequently interact with members of the public, vaccinations can not only better safeguard their health, but also help reduce the risk of influenza transmission in the community.

The Secretary for Health, Professor Lo Chung-mau, said, "Various SIV programmes have been fully commenced on September 17 to provide free or subsidised SIV services for eligible persons. Since it takes about two weeks after receiving an SIV for antibodies to develop in the body and provide protection against influenza virus infection, I strongly urge members of the public to get vaccinated early."

For more details, members of the public may call the Centre for Health Protection of the Department of Health at 2125 2125 or visit the Vaccination Schemes page.

Property Owner Fined $66,600 for Ignoring Building Removal Order

Property owner fined over $65,000 for not complying with removal order

An owner was convicted and fined $66,600 in total, of which $61,600 was the fine for the number of days that the offence continued, at the Kwun Tong Magistrates' Courts yesterday (September 22) for failing to comply with a removal order issued under the Buildings Ordinance (BO) (Cap. 123).

The case involved several unauthorised structures and projecting structures with a total area of about 97 square metres, as well as the alteration of the approved roof slab at a house on Hiram's Highway. As the unauthorised building works (UBWs) were carried out without prior approval and consent from the Buildings Department (BD), a removal order was served on the owner under section 24(1) of the BO. Failing to comply with the removal order, the owner was prosecuted by the BD.

A spokesman for the BD said today (September 23), "UBWs may lead to serious consequences. Owners must comply with removal orders without delay. The BD will continue to take stringent enforcement action against owners who fail to comply with removal orders, including instigation of prosecution, to ensure building and public safety."

Failure to comply with a removal order without reasonable excuse is a serious offence under the BO. The maximum penalty upon conviction is a fine of $200,000 and one year's imprisonment, and a further fine of up to $20,000 for each day that the offence continues.