Measles Vaccination for Babies and Children in Hong Kong

Does everyone need to be vaccinated against measles?

As for whether everyone needs to be vaccinated against measles, it actually depends on whether the individual’s working environment often comes into contact with people who are prone to measles. In addition, if you do not have measles antibodies and need to go to high-risk places, such as going to ports or coming into contact with outsiders, those people should be more careful.

Who are high-risk individuals?

High-risk people have never had measles or been vaccinated. The vaccination rate in Hong Kong is quite high, 97% of our people have been vaccinated. Most adults have received two doses of measles vaccine, so most adults are already adequately protected.

In fact, infectious diseases cannot be prevented by vaccines alone. You can also pay attention to personal hygiene, such as wearing a mask and washing hands frequently. Even if you do come into contact with a carrier, if you do enough personal hygiene, the risk of infection will be relatively low. The biggest difficulty now is the insufficient supply of vaccines, and even if you want to get vaccinated, it may not be easy to get the vaccine.

Who needs to be vaccinated more?

The people who really need to receive the vaccine are mainly children under one year old. MMR vaccine can be vaccinated as early as six months or more and less than one year old. However, the supply of this vaccine itself is relatively tight. If Hong Kong has this vaccine reserve, some can actually be allocated for emergency use. Because we are really short of vaccines for the time being, we hope there will be a transition period and the reserve vaccine can be used to help people in urgent need. When a new batch of vaccines is arranged, everyone will not have to worry about vaccine shortages. If you are really worried or stressed about this aspect, you can consider going to a clinic to check whether you have antibodies. If you have antibodies without injections, you can feel more at ease.

Are there any alternative vaccines for young children?

If parents will or want to take their children to places with a high risk of measles outbreaks (such as Japan), the children must first be protected in advance. They can consider arranging vaccination two weeks before departure to protect the children. In addition to MMR vaccine, there is also a mixed four-pox vaccine called MMR plus chickenpox. The four-pox vaccine itself contains chickenpox, which can provide additional protection against the occurrence of chickenpox. There is no harm in getting additional chickenpox vaccine because the chickenpox vaccine itself is also very safe. This is also an option. If the child has not received the chickenpox vaccine before, you can consider getting a mixed four-pox vaccine such as MMR plus chickenpox.