Booster shot mulled for double-jabbed youngsters

A government advisor on Covid-19 vaccination said they are considering giving a booster shot to youngsters aged 12 to 17 who have received two doses of the vaccine.

Professor Ivan Hung from the University of Hong Kong, who’s also a co-convenor of the government’s Expert Committee on Clinical Events Assessment, made the comments on RTHK’s Covid Update programme on Tuesday.

“I myself have been proposing at various meetings that children who have already received two doses of the vaccine, for those between the age of 12 and 17, to receive the third dose once six months have passed,” he said, adding that the third dose is important in fighting the Omicron variant.

Hung added they have also discussed reducing the period between the second and third doses to three months, but said that needs to be discussed by the expert committee.

Experts had said previously there was no need for adolescents to get a third jab, before the Omicron outbreak hit Hong Kong.