The Secretary for the Civil Service, Mr Patrick Nip, today (May 13) visited the Community Vaccination Centre (CVC) at Loke Yew Hall of the University of Hong Kong (HKU) to inspect its operation and express gratitude to the medical team and administrative support staff.
 
     Mr Nip said, "The CVC at HKU began serving the public on February 23 this year, and May 22 will be its last day of service. Back in February, the situation of the fifth wave of the epidemic was severe, with a strong demand for vaccination. The Civil Service Bureau was working at full throttle, setting up more vaccination venues and boosting the vaccination rate, in order to enable more people to have the protection conferred by the vaccines in a short period of time. With the support of the medical team organised by HKU and the joint efforts of Professor Yuen Kwok-yung, Professor Ivan Hung and the medical staff, the Government has for the first time set up a vaccination centre on a university campus serving all members of the public in Hong Kong. It has been almost three months since then. The vaccination centre has played a crucial role at the time when the epidemic situation was at its most severe."
 
     After the closure of the CVC at Loke Yew Hall of HKU, there will still be over 20 CVCs serving members of the public. The number of designated general out-patient clinics of the Hospital Authority providing COVID-19 vaccination service by reservation has increased to 43. In addition, members of the public can also opt for going to the 13 Hospital COVID-19 Vaccination Stations, over 1 000 private doctors and clinics providing the Sinovac vaccination service, and the 76 venues operated by private healthcare institutions providing the BioNTech vaccine, and more.
 
     Mr Nip said, "Vaccination quotas of other CVCs are still very abundant and there are quotas for vaccination available. Regardless of age, people should get vaccinated as early as possible for self-protection and to reduce the risk of falling seriously ill and death should they get infected. Unvaccinated persons should act as soon as possible, and receive the second and third doses on time to enhance protection."
 
     Details of channels for free COVID-19 vaccination are available at the designated website for the COVID-19 Vaccination Programme (www.covidvaccine.gov.hk).

Ends/Friday, May 13, 2022
Issued at HKT 16:33

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