The epidemic in Hong Kong continues to have a high fever and has not receded, and nearly 2,000 people have died. The elderly and children are the most pitiful victims of this wave of the epidemic, as young as babies who have not yet enjoyed the joys of life for several months; up to hundreds of years old and elderly people have been ruthlessly killed by the virus.
According to statistics, the fifth wave of the epidemic has accumulated 662 elderly homes, accounting for 83% of the total, involving about 13,000 residents and 3,450 employees.
Source: Hong Kong Wenhui Network
Overall, the age of the deceased population is mostly between 35 and 105 years old, which is older.
In Hong Kong, the vaccination rate for the elderly aged 80 or over is only 51%, and the proportion of elderly people living in nursing homes is even lower, only 20%, and the number of residential care deaths accounts for more than half of the total number of deaths.
Why the elderly are right
Vaccinations "not interested"?
The New York Times cites two important reasons: officials are too slow to prepare for a wider outbreak and too little to address misinformation about vaccines.
Hong Kong has failed to prepare for the worst-case scenario during the relatively calm period of the first two years of the outbreak, i.e. to help older and most at-risk residents prepare for the worst, and the Now Opickron strain has caused explosive infections but is caught off guard.
On the coldest day, dozens of patients without beds huddled under tents on makeshift beds or sat on rubber stools on the side, and medical staff draped them with felt, warm aluminum paper and thick coats to keep them warm, the caregivers looked worried, and the patients were pale and moaned from time to time, singing with the sound of wind and rain. Source: Hong Kong Wenhui Network
Hong Kong has a population of 1 million elderly people over the age of 70, and when the fifth wave did not break out, the overall environment seemed to have a low risk of disease for them, and the elderly did not have enough awareness of vaccine information and were always worried about side effects.
"The number of confirmed cases is very small,
Why take this risk? ”
Earlier, in the early stage of vaccine operation, there were individual cases of discomfort or even death after vaccination of the elderly with high blood pressure, high blood sugar levels or their own perennial diseases, and only seeing this, they "dissuaded" many elderly people to go to the injection.
Misinformation about vaccines, fake news, and fears of vaccines spread so quickly in Hong Kong society that rare post-vaccination deaths became labels of "relevant vaccine dangers."
Many people think that only if they are healthy can they go to the needle.
Therefore, "try not to vaccinate without vaccination", many elderly people are skeptical and hesitant on the issue of injections, and they are also full of worry.
Before the outbreak of the epidemic, the government did not do enough to dispel the efficacy of vaccines, dispel false information, and psychological counseling and comfort for the elderly.
Outside the vaccination center yesterday, many elderly people lined up with their own stools to wait for the same day to prepare for injections. Source: Hong Kong Wen Wei Po
According to a data released by the Infectious Diseases Division of the Hong Kong Centre for Health Protection, the case fatality rate of vaccinated elderly people is only 0.03%, and the case fatality rate of unvaccinated is 0.54%, a difference of 18 times.
This can also be seen from yesterday's data, 114 of the 140 people over the age of 65 have not been vaccinated against COVID-19.
Three-quarters of the elderly over the age of 70, and half of the elderly aged 80 or over, have at least received the first dose, but the vaccination number still needs to be increased, and some experts advocate that the elderly should be prepared for four injections.
After the epidemic gradually subsides, the Hong Kong government must also learn a lesson, "not afraid of ten thousand, afraid of the case", do a good job in the early layout, deployment and prevention of the epidemic, encourage the elderly to vaccinate, the vaccination information is in place, and eliminate the psychological concerns of the elderly in a timely manner, so as to prevent problems before they occur.
(Wen 丨 Reporter Li Wenhui)
This article is a new media article of Hong Kong's Economic Herald,
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