(To watch the full press briefing with sign language interpretation, click here.)

Given the COVID-19 outbreak in residential care homes for the elderly (RCHEs), the Government said it will shorten the vaccination interval between the first two doses of the Sinovac vaccine for residents of RCHEs.

The Centre for Health Protection is investigating 52,523 additional COVID-19 cases, of which 11 are imported and the rest are locally infected.

The centre's Principal Medical & Health Officer Dr Albert Au told reporters at a press briefing this afternoon that from the start of the fifth wave of the epidemic, so far 72% of the elderly homes in the city have detected positive COVID-19 cases.

After consulting the health experts and its scientific committees, the centre decided to shorten the vaccination interval between the first dose and second doses for residents of RCHEs.

Dr Au said: “For the Sinovac vaccine, it will be shortened from 28 days to 21 days so as to allow the residents to complete the vaccination as soon as possible, and to boost the overall immunity for residents of RCHEs as soon as possible.

“Secondly, for those who were unvaccinated, if the residents were infected with COVID-19, previously they needed to wait for three months to receive a COVID-19 vaccination.

“In view of the current situation, those recovered from COVID-19 - for the unvaccinated residents who have recovered from COVID-19 - they can receive the vaccination as soon as four weeks after recovery, for both the Sinovac vaccine and also the BioNTech vaccine."

Meanwhile, for people aged 60 or above who have received two doses of the Sinovac or the BioNTech vaccine, the time interval for receiving the third dose will be shortened from six months after the second dose to three months.

For children and teenagers aged 5 to 17, the time interval between the first two doses of the BioNTech vaccine will be shortened from 12 weeks to eight weeks.

Booking for receiving the third dose will be open for these groups from 8am on March 5.

To prioritise the vaccination need of the elderly and children, the Government will arrange people aged 18 to 59 who have already received two vaccine doses to make appointments for the third dose three months after their second dose via the online booking system at a later stage.

Separately, the Government made restriction-testing declarations to cover six buildings where sewage samples tested positive for the virus.

They include Tak Shan House, Tak Kei House, Tak Cheung House, Tak Long Estate in Kowloon City, Luk Chuen House, Lek Yuen Estate in Sha Tin and Tower 1 and Tower 2, Twin Peaks in Tseung Kwan O.

People in the restricted areas must undergo compulsory testing before the specified deadline.

As there were positive sewage test results in several areas of Central & Western, Tuen Mun, North, Sha Tin, Sai Kung and Southern districts, the Home Affairs Department will distribute COVID-19 rapid test kits to relevant residents as well as cleansing workers and property management staff working in those areas from tomorrow.

For information and health advice on COVID-19, visit the Government's dedicated webpage.