Health Bureau (SSM) Director Alvis Lo Iek Long has said that walk-in Covid-19 vaccinations could get off the ground later this week if his bureau is able to “smoothly” complete its preparatory work.
Lo said that potential vaccinees will be able to register for walk-in vaccinations at any health centre or health station if places are still available when they arrive there, meaning that places are still available after Covid-19 jabs have been administered to all those who have made appointments for that day.
Lo said that his bureau would roll out a new website and a new mobile application so that potential vaccinees can check how many places for Covid-19 vaccinations are still available at particular health centres and health stations.
Lo also noted that currently, about 7,000 places for Covid-19 vaccination appointments are available at the city’s 15 inoculation facilities daily. The number of people getting their Covid-19 jabs per day has been steadily increasing to around 3,000 in recent days.
Lo noted that his bureau has allocated places for Covid-19 vaccinations at inoculation facilities depending on their respective size and the number of health workers there. Lo said that his bureau has been aware that some of the inoculation facilities have normally been busy, but at some places are normally still available after Covid-19 jabs have been given to all those who have made vaccination appointments for a particular day.
Consequently, Lo said that the walk-in Covid-19 vaccinations also aim to enable a fuller use of his bureau’s vaccination resources.
Covid-19 jab blood pressure requirement relaxed
Meanwhile, Lo also revealed that his bureau relaxed its blood pressure requirement two weeks ago allowing potential vaccinees to get their Covid-19 jabs. According to Lo, his bureau raised the maximum allowed systolic pressure from 140 to 160, and the maximum allowed diastolic pressure from 90 to 100. The relaxed requirement aims to enable more people to get their jabs, he said.
Generally speaking, initially, after a Covid-19 vaccination programme has been launched, a stricter blood pressure requirement is adopted with the aim of reducing the risk of the occurrence of post-vaccination adverse events. According to Lo, the blood pressure requirement can be relaxed some time after the vaccination drive’s launch if no major problems have occurred.
