Hong Kong will begin reducing the number of non-resident children getting vaccinations at government clinics on Friday, after a vaccine scandal in the Chinese mainland encouraged some families to come to the city for inoculations, Hong Kong health authorities said on Wednesday.
From April 1, Hong Kong's Maternal and Child Health Centres will set a quota for non-resident children at 120 new cases per month. Those found ineligible will only be allowed to book an appointment when there is a vacancy and will have to pay a higher fee, read a statement on the official website of the regional government.
"The government's policy is to give priority to local children," Teresa Li, Hong Kong's assistant director of Health for Family and Elderly Health Services, said in the statement.
"We will closely monitor the utilization of services by (non-resident children) and may adjust the quota or withhold new bookings," Li said.
Linda Woo, the assistant director of Health (for drugs), said in the statement that "at present, there is no vaccine shortage in the public sector."
The scandal, where a mother and daughter in Shandong Province were caught selling 25 kinds of vaccines in bulk - including inoculations for polio, mumps, rabies, hepatitis B, encephalitis and meningococcal diseases - to 24 provinces and regions, has prompted a furious backlash from Chinese parents.
More Chinese parents, disappointed by the latest scandal where tens of millions worth of improperly stored vaccines were sold to two-thirds of China, are eyeing imported vaccines for inoculation, or simply turning to Hong Kong clinics.
Though many of the vaccines were purchased from licensed manufacturers, they were not refrigerated during redistribution as required.
