Elderly people welcome jabs without bookings

Some elderly people who lined up for a same-day ticket to get vaccinated said they were happy to be included in the expanded government walk-in programme.

Queues were seen outside some centres on Wednesday morning as people who are 60 or older – in addition to those aged 70 or above – could now get their Covid-19 jabs at community vaccination centres without making a booking in advance.

A man, 60, told RTHK he had arrived at the Lai Chi Kok centre at 7am, 45 minutes before tickets were being distributed.

He said the authorities should have included those aged between 60 and 69 earlier, as most elderly people do not know how to making an online booking.

In Tseung Kwan O, a woman surnamed Chu said she was getting a jab with a same-day ticket, even though she had made an appointment with a private clinic.

“Actually I have already made a booking, but it’s not my turn yet. So I came here to get a same-day ticket [to get vaccinated],” she said.

She said she worked in the elderly care profession and wanted to get the jab as soon as possible, so she won’t need to be tested regularly.

A total of 4,600 same-day tickets are distributed daily from 7:45am at 24 community vaccination centres on a first-come, first-served basis.

As of Tuesday, more than 2.7 million people in Hong Kong have received both doses of the vaccine.