How do you read Hong Kong's summer flu season? Hospitalisation rates, the ten indicators at week 30, what $260 really subsidises, and the eHealth threshold at 18, 2026

TL;DR Hong Kong entered a flu season in week 26 of 2026 (21 to 27 June), as the Centre for Health Protection announced on 2 July. This is a summer season, and the Centre has not named it. In week 30 (the reporting period 19 to 25 July): the influenza positive rate in respiratory specimens was 10.65%, above the baseline of 4.94% and above the previous week's 9.70%; the influenza admission rate at public hospitals was 0.67 per myriad (每萬人), above the baseline of 0.27, though the report states that it is at a low intensity level. This article wants you to take away four things. First, "2025/26" is not the name of a season but the year of the vaccination programme — two clocks that are not in step, and confusing them makes you misread where you are. Second, the 260 dollars is a subsidy the government pays the doctor, not the price you pay; the programme page states in terms that a doctor may charge more after the subsidy is deducted, and no cap on the co-payment has been published. Third, anyone aged 18 or above must have registered with eHealth to receive a free or subsidised vaccination — a new condition that began only in the 2025/26 year, and one that is not printed on the eligibility table. Fourth, this article prints no list of "warning signs that mean going straight to accident and emergency", because the Centre for Health Protection has never published one; the threshold it does publish is far lower — anyone with symptoms of a respiratory infection, however mild, should wear a mask, stay away from work or school, and seek medical attention early. Which vaccine suits you is for a doctor to decide.

#Two clocks: "summer 2026" is the season, "2025/26" is the vaccination programme year

This is the easiest thing in the whole article to confuse, so it comes first: Hong Kong now has two clocks running independently. One is the flu season — this time the summer 2026 season, which began in week 26 and has not ended; the other is the year of the vaccination programme, which is still the 2025/26 year, launched on 22 to 25 September 2025. They are not in step, and no official document says they should be.

The season side. On 2 July 2026 the government announced that local influenza activity had exceeded the baseline level, indicating that Hong Kong had entered a flu season [Note 1]. The next paragraph of the same press release is the key one: the previous season began in September 2025 and ran on until early January 2026; and the season that usually appears in the first quarter of each year did not appear this year. This one is a separate summer season, and the Centre says it is hard to predict how long it will last, noting only from past data that activity keeps climbing for a period after a season begins before it peaks [Note 2].

The date of the announcement and the start of the season are two different things. The press release is dated 2 July 2026, but the season starts at week 26, that is 21 to 27 June 2026. The week 30 report counts cumulatively "since Hong Kong entered the flu season in week 26 this year", and the press release of 16 July also says Hong Kong entered the flu season at the end of June. The accurate statement is: the season runs from week 26, and the Centre for Health Protection announced it on 2 July. Which date is taken as the start directly affects how the cumulative figure for the season is arrived at.

This season has no name, and this article does not name it either. The Centre's own cross-season comparison series lists past seasons as: the summer 2023 season, the 2023/24 season, the winter 2024/25 season and the summer 2025 season — summer seasons are named by year alone, and only winter or cross-year seasons take the "year range" format. As for this one, the week 30 report calls it "this season" from beginning to end. This site does not name a season for the authorities, so the whole article says either "the summer 2026 flu season" or "this season".

The programme-year side. What is in force is still the 2025/26 year: the Vaccination Subsidy Scheme launched on 22 September 2025, and the Seasonal Influenza Vaccination School Outreach Programme and the Residential Care Home Vaccination Programme launched on 25 September 2025 [Note 3]. The table of severe paediatric cases in the same week 30 report still has a final column headed "whether the 2025/26 seasonal influenza vaccine was received" — that is, the table the Centre fills in every week still asks about that 2025/26 dose.

So the whole article follows one rule: the form "2025/26" appears only next to "vaccination programme" or "Vaccination Subsidy Scheme", and is never used for a season. If you see a headline saying "2025/26 influenza" and take it to mean last winter's season, you have got two things wrong: the year in the headline refers to the subsidy scheme, and where you are is a summer 2026 season that is still rising.

#What is seasonal influenza, and why can Hong Kong have two peaks a year?

Influenza is an acute respiratory illness caused by influenza viruses, not a "bad cold"; and what is distinctive about Hong Kong is that it can have two peaks a year, in winter and in summer, rather than one.

The Centre for Health Protection puts it this way: influenza is caused by several types of influenza virus, the commonest in Hong Kong being influenza A (H1), influenza A (H3) and influenza B; influenza cases occur all year round in Hong Kong but are generally commoner from January to March or April and from July to August; patients generally recover by themselves within 2 to 7 days, but people with weaker immunity and elderly people may develop complications such as bronchitis, pneumonia or encephalopathy, which in severe cases can be fatal [Note 4].

Three things in that official passage have to be kept apart. First, the symptom list ends with "and so on", so it is open-ended and not a complete list. Second, "generally recover by themselves within 2 to 7 days" describes what commonly happens; it is not a rule. Third, the last sentence is the most important in the passage: severe infection and influenza complications can also occur in healthy people [Note 4]. The week 30 report opens with the same point: influenza can cause severe illness in people at high risk, and healthy people are also affected.

⚠️ If you think "it's only a cold, I'll get over it in 2 days": "patients generally recover by themselves within 2 to 7 days" and "severe infection or influenza complications can also occur in healthy people" are two sentences in the same passage, and you cannot read only the first.

Three pairs of easily confused ideas first, because every section below uses them.

Influenza is not influenza-like illness (ILI). The first has to be confirmed by laboratory test; the second is a surveillance category defined by symptoms, used to count clinic attendances. The two rows in the table below for sentinel family medicine clinics and sentinel private doctors' clinics measure ILI, not confirmed influenza.

Seasonal influenza is not an influenza pandemic. The official distinction is that an influenza pandemic is rare and occurs only when a novel influenza virus emerges that differs markedly from the influenza viruses already circulating among humans [Note 5].

"Entering a flu season" is not an "outbreak", and not a "peak" either. Entering a season means two surveillance indicators have risen above a statistical baseline; activity keeps climbing for a while after a season begins before it peaks.

On Hong Kong's two peaks, the Centre is very plain: in Hong Kong, seasonal influenza generally circulates more from the first to the third month or April, and in the seventh month and August [Note 6]. So the intuition that "it's summer, how can there be flu" is wrong in Hong Kong.

#What is being measured when Hong Kong "enters a flu season"? Five things to know before looking at any figure

Every figure the Centre for Health Protection publishes has a definition and a denominator, and these five definitions explain why figures in the report sometimes seem to contradict one another and why some of them cannot be read at face value.

One, the baseline level is calculated statistically; it is not a fixed threshold. The two lines of 4.94% and 0.27 per myriad are derived by statistical methods from data collected on those two indicators during past non-influenza seasons, and the Centre reviews and analyses them each year to decide whether they need updating [Note 7]. Note the wording of the note: "the updated" indicators, not "if updated" — the report says the indicators have been updated, so as to make the two indicators more synchronised and to increase the sensitivity of the surveillance system. So when comparing across years, the line has not merely "possibly" moved; the report records expressly that it has. Which year it moved and by how much is not in this report, and this article does not supply it.

Two, "low intensity level" is a separate scale and not the same thing as the baseline. The report says the admission rate is above the baseline level of 0.27 but at a low intensity level, and notes that intensity levels are calculated by the Moving Epidemic Method (MEM) [Note 8]. That is: rising above the baseline means the season has begun; the intensity level is how hard the season is running. Both can hold at once, as they do now — the season has begun, and its intensity is still low.

Three, the denominator of the positive rate is two laboratories added together. The denominator of 11,424 comprises 10,665 specimens collected by the Centre's Public Health Laboratory Services Branch and 759 collected by the Hospital Authority [Note 9]. The COVID positive rate earlier in the same report uses a different denominator, so the two percentages look as though they can be set side by side and cannot.

Four, the denominator of the virus typing percentages is the tests that have been typed, not all positive specimens. The report states that the typed tests comprise 483 (41%) influenza A (H1), 567 (48%) influenza A (H3) and 138 (11%) influenza B [Note 10]. 483 plus 567 plus 138 is 1,188, fewer than the 1,217 total positive specimens — so those three percentages are on a denominator of 1,188, not 1,217.

Five, specimens may contain vaccine virus strains. The report notes that some specimens may include vaccine virus strains from people who have recently received live attenuated influenza vaccine [Note 11]. That sentence follows every positive-rate figure.

And one further definition is important enough to be dealt with on its own below: "severe case" and "death case" are surveillance definitions and do not mean "died of influenza".

⚠️ If you want to compare this year's figures with the year before last: both the baseline and the intensity scale are recalculated each year, so use the cross-season comparison chart the report itself provides rather than subtracting two years' percentages yourself.

#Where is this season now? The ten indicators at week 30

The overall picture is "still rising", but not every indicator is rising — in the same week, of the ten indicators in the table below five rose, one was flat and four fell, while the report's own conclusion is that activity is continuing to rise.

Page 10 of the week 30 report opens: Hong Kong is currently in a flu season, and the latest surveillance data show that overall influenza activity is continuing to rise [Note 12].

How has the positive rate moved? Threading together the periods the official documents label themselves: week 26 (21 to 27 June) 6.69%, with an admission rate of 0.38 per myriad over the same period; "last week" in the press release of 16 July 2026, 8.75%, with an admission rate of 0.55 per myriad; week 29, 9.70%; week 30, 10.65%. All four points are above the baseline of 4.94%, and the direction is upward throughout.

The unit of the sewage indicator is a standardised ratio, not an absolute quantity: influenza virus copies per thousand gene copies of pepper mild mottle virus (PMMoV) [Note 13].

Why are half the indicators falling? The report offers no explanation, and this site will not explain on its behalf. But three of the four falling items have something in common worth pointing out: fever among kindergarten children, outbreaks, and attendances at private clinics all connect back to schools, and by week 30 (19 to 25 July) the summer holidays had begun. To put it accurately: the official name of the outbreak item is "influenza-like illness outbreaks in schools and institutions", so it covers institutions too, not only schools. The fourth item does not belong to that pattern — the accident and emergency influenza-like syndromic group fell from 174.5 to 169.0 cases per thousand attendances with a diagnosis code, the report offers no explanation, and this site advances none. The above is this site's observation from the report's own data, not the report's conclusion.

What matters is this: what fell were mainly the "attendance and group-gathering" indicators, while those that rose — laboratory positive rate, admission rate, fever in residential care homes, sewage — measure how active the virus is in the community and in institutions.

The age gradient in admissions is invisible in the overall figure. The report gives the admission rates to public hospitals with influenza as the principal diagnosis for people aged 0-5, 6-11, 12-17, 18-49, 50-64 and 65 or above as 2.99, 1.57, 0.56, 0.18, 0.25 and 1.50 cases (per 10,000 population in that age group), against 2.76, 1.92, 0.83, 0.14, 0.23 and 1.26 the previous week [Note 14]. That is: the admission rate for children under 6 is 16.6 times that of the 18 to 49 group (2.99 divided by 0.18), and the 65 or above group 8.3 times (1.50 divided by 0.18). These two ratios are calculated by this article from the figures quoted above; the report does not publish them. The overall figure of 0.67 conceals both the highest and the lowest ends at once.

⚠️ If a news headline about rising influenza admissions has you estimating your own risk: 0.67 is a whole-population average, not your personal risk figure. The real extremes lie between the age groups — the admission rate for the 0 to 5 group is 2.99 per myriad and for the 18 to 49 group only 0.18, a difference of 16.6 times. But that multiple compares group with group; it does not mean that "a 3-year-old" and "a 30-year-old" differ 16 times in their individual risk from influenza.

#169 or 143? Two figures on the same page measuring different things

The same page of the week 30 report prints both 169 and 143, and both are right, but they are not the same measure; setting 169 against the four cross-season figures overstates this season.

The cumulative figure runs like this: during the flu season, 169 adult cases of laboratory-confirmed influenza requiring intensive care or resulting in death were recorded, including 94 deaths (as at 29 July); of these cases, 99 were infected with influenza A (H3), 43 with influenza A (H1), 18 with influenza B and 9 with influenza A pending subtyping [Note 15].

The paragraph immediately after is the cross-season comparison, and it uses a different figure: over the same surveillance period in the summer 2023 season, the 2023/24 season, the winter 2024/25 season and the summer 2025 season (counted in whole weeks, 5 weeks in all), 129, 155, 264 and 132 cases respectively were recorded, against 143 this season; and for deaths, 81, 95, 166 and 94 over the corresponding periods of those seasons, against 80 this season [Note 16].

In one sentence: 169 counts from the start of the season to 29 July (including the first four days of week 31); 143 counts five whole weeks only, and is the basis that lines up for cross-season comparison. The 26 cases between the two figures are a difference of time window, not a difference in the epidemic.

Rank the official figures once (without doing any arithmetic). On the common basis of five whole weeks, adult severe cases from most to fewest are: the winter 2024/25 season 264, the 2023/24 season 155, this season 143, the summer 2025 season 132, and the summer 2023 season 129 — this season is third, in the middle of the five. On the same basis, deaths from most to fewest are: the winter 2024/25 season 166, the 2023/24 season 95, the summer 2025 season 94, the summer 2023 season 81, and this season 80 — this season is the lowest of the five. Severe paediatric complications or deaths: the summer 2023 season 9, the 2023/24 season 5, the winter 2024/25 season 9, the summer 2025 season 9, and this season 3, also the lowest of the five; for deaths, those four seasons had 1, 0, 0 and 0, and this season 0. Outbreaks in schools and institutions: the summer 2025 season 315, the summer 2023 season 163, this season 145, the 2023/24 season 103, and the winter 2024/25 season 78, with this season third.

So: on the authorities' own common basis, this season is not so far a record-breaking one, and adult deaths and severe paediatric cases are the lowest of the five seasons compared. But the same report also carries the other side, and the two have to be read together: in week 30 alone there were 44 adult severe cases (including 26 deaths), up from 27 (including 14 deaths) the previous week; and the first four days of week 31 (26 to 29 July) already recorded 26 cases, of which 14 were deaths. A middling cumulative figure and a sharply rising weekly figure are both true at once — because this season has not finished. On outbreaks, 159 have been recorded since Hong Kong entered the flu season in week 26 (as at 29 July), while the figure on the five-week basis is 145.

"Severe case" and "death case" are surveillance definitions and do not mean death from influenza. The report is plain about it: the surveillance covers patients who during that admission were confirmed by laboratory test to have influenza and required intensive care or died; however, the reason a patient required intensive care or died may have been another acute condition or a chronic disease [Note 17]. That is: those 94 are cases of laboratory-confirmed influenza in which the patient died during the same admission, and the cause of death is not necessarily influenza. Writing that "influenza has caused 94 deaths this season" is not something this figure supports.

Two other sentences on the same page each carry their own limit of scope, and both limits have to travel with the figure. The first: among adult death cases for which clinical information is available, about 87% had a chronic disease [Note 18] — the denominator of that 87% is death cases for which clinical information is available, not all death cases. The second: during this flu season, of cases of laboratory-confirmed influenza requiring admission to a public hospital, 1.8% of patients died during that admission, a rate currently below the past range (2.5% in the winter 2017/18 flu season and 4.5% in the winter 2024/25 flu season) [Note 19] — that 1.8% is a rate among confirmed cases admitted to a public hospital, not among people infected.

⚠️ If the figure of 94 deaths this season worries you: it is a count of cases under a surveillance definition, and the Centre for Health Protection says itself that the cause of death may have been another acute or chronic condition; and on the same basis of comparison with the past four seasons, this season's death count is the lowest of them.

#The $260 is a subsidy the government pays the doctor, not the price you pay

The 260 dollars under the Vaccination Subsidy Scheme is the subsidy the government pays a participating doctor for each dose of seasonal influenza vaccine; after the subsidy is deducted the doctor may still charge you, and no cap or typical amount for the co-payment has been published.

The programme page's own account is that participating doctors provide vaccination for eligible persons and the government gives the doctor a vaccine subsidy; after the subsidy is deducted, the doctor may charge an additional fee [Note 20]. That last sentence is printed just above the paragraph with the amounts. The same point is made again in note one of the "seasonal influenza vaccine" page, and more clearly: a doctor may charge an additional fee, and some doctors will not charge [Note 21].

How much is the co-payment? The authorities publish no amount; what they publish is a search tool. The Centre's "Vaccination Subsidy Scheme – doctors 2025/26" page, its "seasonal influenza vaccine" page and the two government press releases of 8 September and 19 September 2025 carry no cap, recommended amount or typical amount for the co-payment. The Centre's answer to the question is to tell the public to choose a doctor for themselves — note one of the "seasonal influenza vaccine" page tells anyone whose family doctor is not enrolled in the scheme to choose an enrolled family doctor on the search site at apps.hcv.gov.hk [Note 21]; and the press release of 8 September 2025 says that site has "an enhanced search function to make it convenient for members of the public to choose doctors offering vaccines with no co-payment" [Note 22]. That is: some doctors charge no co-payment and some do, and the only official route to finding a no-co-payment doctor is that search tool.

One batch of vaccine is subject to an outright prohibition on extra charges, which is different from the above. The fourth new initiative in the press release of 8 September 2025 states that, besides continuing to procure vaccines for the Department of Health, the Hospital Authority and related organisations, the Department also helped procure an additional 100 000 doses of injectable inactivated influenza vaccine for "designated family doctors" enrolled in the Vaccination Subsidy Scheme, and that family doctors accepting that arrangement may not charge the person vaccinated any additional fee [Note 23]. Note the verb: "may not" is a prohibition, not a description of an outcome such as "the patient need not pay anything extra". Those 100 000 doses are a batch procured by the government for designated family doctors, and it does not follow that every doctor enrolled in the Vaccination Subsidy Scheme is bound by the same prohibition.

When you telephone a clinic to ask what a flu jab costs, the right question is two questions: first, are you enrolled in the Vaccination Subsidy Scheme; and second, after the 260 dollars of subsidy is deducted, how much do I still pay. The official search tool can filter for no co-payment.

#Do you qualify for free or subsidised vaccination?

Eligibility has two layers: first you have to be in an eligible group, and then (if you are 18 or above) you have to have registered with eHealth. The second layer is a new condition that began only in the 2025/26 year.

#Layer one: the eligible groups

The three notes are the real eligibility rules, and they are reproduced in full at [Note 21] (note one), [Note 24] (note two) and [Note 25] (note three). Only the two points most often got wrong are dealt with here.

Note two is the generous one: under the School Outreach Programme, all schoolchildren, whether or not they hold Hong Kong resident status, and secondary school students aged 18 or above, are eligible for free or subsidised vaccination [Note 24].

Note three is the tight one: of the four limbs defining chronic illness, the first says expressly "chronic cardiovascular disease (excluding hypertension without complications)" — hypertension without complications does not count as a chronic illness for the purposes of this programme [Note 25]. Note also the wording of the second limb: "metabolic diseases including diabetes mellitus or obesity (body mass index 30 or above)" — obesity is listed alongside diabetes, and does not require diabetes as well.

Another page of the same date has a slightly different list of chronic illnesses. The note attached to the "priority groups for vaccination" on the "frequently asked questions on seasonal influenza vaccination in Hong Kong for the 2025-26 season" page adds a further item, "children or adolescents (6 months to 18 years) on long-term aspirin therapy", but does not list liver disease. Each list has an item the other lacks, and the two serve different purposes: the list on the "seasonal influenza vaccine" page decides whether you are eligible for free or subsidised vaccination; the list on the FAQ page is the order of priority recommended by the Scientific Committee on Vaccine Preventable Diseases. A priority group is not an eligible subsidised group — one says who should be vaccinated, the other says whom the government will pay for. The two overlap closely but not completely, and neither page says so.

And three further groups are not on the table above — not because they are unpublished, but because they are printed on another page. The annex to the government press release of 8 September 2025, "Overview of eligibility and vaccination venue for the 2025/26 Seasonal Influenza Vaccination Programmes", lists seven rows of eligible persons — two rows more than the five-row table on the "seasonal influenza vaccine" page, but three groups more, because the annex combines children and adolescents from 6 months to under 18 into a single row while the web page splits them into two. The three additional groups in the annex are: residents of residential care homes (vaccination venue: the home they live in); healthcare workers (public or private clinic / family doctor / District Health Centre); and poultry workers and people in the pig-raising and pig-slaughtering industries (District Health Centre / designated public clinic).

And the "seasonal influenza vaccine" page does account for this, in the line just below note three: the government's seasonal influenza vaccination programmes also provide free or subsidised vaccination for certain high-risk groups, and click here for details [Note 26]. "Click here" leads to the "other groups eligible for seasonal influenza vaccination" page (chp.gov.hk/tc/features/108125.html, page self-dated 8 September 2025), which lists all three groups — residents of residential care homes (for the elderly or for people with disabilities), healthcare workers, and poultry workers and people in the pig-raising and pig-slaughtering industries — each linking on to its own page. That is: the table on the web page is indeed incomplete, but the page does say so; the prompt simply comes after the notes and does not name the groups, so it is very easy to skim past. If you are in one of those three categories, do not stop at the table — follow that link. Note also two differences of wording: the press release annex says "residents of residential care homes", while that page says "residents of residential care homes (for the elderly or for people with disabilities)", the latter specifying homes for the elderly or for people with disabilities.

#Layer two: anyone 18 or above must register with eHealth first

The press release of 8 September 2025 adds a paragraph after the five new initiatives: from this year onwards, eligible persons aged 18 or above must have registered with eHealth in order to receive subsidised or free seasonal influenza vaccination [Note 27].

The FAQ page explains how to put that right: members of the public may register with eHealth before being vaccinated, everyone aged 18 or above must have registered with eHealth in order to receive free or subsidised vaccination, and you may use the "quick eHealth registration" service at the vaccination venue [Note 28].

In one sentence: this is a hard threshold, not a recommendation; but it does not have to be arranged in advance — vaccination venues offer on-the-spot "quick eHealth registration". That threshold is nowhere mentioned in the eligibility table or the three notes on the "seasonal influenza vaccine" page; it is on the "other groups eligible for seasonal influenza vaccination" page mentioned above, whose last line reads "anyone aged 18 or above being vaccinated must have registered with eHealth". So readers of the eligibility page will not see this threshold; you have to follow that "click here" link to find it.

The Scientific Committee has explained why eHealth is being connected, and the reason bears directly on the vaccination figures in the next section: at present the government cannot fully capture data on people paying for influenza vaccination themselves in the private market, and the Committee recommends making good use of eHealth in future, encouraging all healthcare workers to update patients' vaccination records promptly and fully integrating vaccination data from public and private healthcare institutions, so as to assist in monitoring vaccination rates and in public health management [Note 29].

⚠️ If you are 18 to 49 with a chronic illness and have always assumed you do not qualify: from the 2025/26 year, all people aged 18 to 49 with a chronic illness are covered regardless of their financial circumstances [Note 30], but you have to register with eHealth first, and hypertension without complications does not count as a chronic illness.

#The "vaccination rate" the government publishes is not Hong Kong's vaccination rate

The percentages the Centre for Health Protection publishes count only doses given under government programmes, expressly excluding people who pay for vaccination themselves in the private market — so it is a coverage rate for the government programmes, not the vaccination rate of Hong Kong people.

The note above the table on that page states: the statistics below include doses administered to target groups under the government's Seasonal Influenza Vaccination Programme and Pneumococcal Vaccination Programme, and data on vaccination through other channels are not included [Note 31].

Note a on that page: "applicable only to groups for which the population figure is accurate". Note b: "in the 2022/23 season, the eligible groups under the Seasonal Influenza Vaccination Programme were extended to secondary school students or Hong Kong residents under 18".

Setting two sets of official figures side by side shows a contrast worth looking at (all figures come from the table above and from the week 30 report in the previous section; no new source is introduced). Of this season's 173 severe influenza cases, 22 were aged 50 to 64 and 134 were 65 or above, 156 in all — and 156 divided by 173 is 90.2%. On deaths, those two groups had 8 and 85, 93 in all, or 98.9% of the 94 deaths.

Now read the table row by row for the direction from 2024/25 to 2025/26: three groups moved down — 6 months to under 6 (55.2% to 53.6%), 50 to 64 (25.6% to 24.5%) and 65 or above (51.8% to 49.2%); two moved up, and both are school-age groups — 6 to under 12 (73.8% to 75.7%) and 12 to under 18 (56.3% to 61.4%).

In one sentence: the two age groups bearing 90 per cent of the severe cases and nearly 99 per cent of the deaths are both on the downward side of the government programme vaccination statistics; the two that rose are the school-age children covered by the School Outreach Programme. And one of the three falling groups deserves separate mention: the youngest group has the highest admission rate of the report's six age groups (2.99 per myriad), and its vaccination figure is falling too. Note that the two documents do not group ages identically: the week 30 report uses "0-5" for admission rates and the vaccination statistics page uses "6 months to under 6", so the starting points differ by the first six months, making these two figures similar but not identical groups; this article only sets them side by side, and does not treat them as one group to be divided or subtracted.

That contrast has to be read with three limits, or it will be over-read.

One, this is an association and not causation, and this site will not write it as causation. The Department of Health is itself restrained about such relationships: when the press release of 8 September 2025 discussed the fall in severe cases the previous year, its words were "we believe it is attributable to the rise in vaccination rates" — believe, not a measured attribution.

Two, the 2025/26 column in the table is a figure "as at 26 July 2026", and the page marks no comparable cut-off date for the other two columns. Strictly, the three columns are not cut off in exactly the same way, so this article says only "this figure in the table is lower than that one", and not "it fell by so much across the full season". Another set of official figures pointing the same way: the press release of 1 April 2026 says that as at 29 March 2026 over 2.01 million doses had been given under the various 2025/26 influenza vaccination programmes, with coverage of the relevant target groups similar to the same period the previous season; while the press release of 8 September 2025 says about 2.09 million doses were given across the whole 2024/25 year. The two figures have different cut-off dates and cannot simply be subtracted.

Three, and most important: these percentages expressly exclude self-financed vaccination. So "government programme coverage has fallen" and "fewer people are being vaccinated" are two different things — some people may simply have switched to paying at a private clinic, and the Scientific Committee says itself that the government "cannot fully capture data on people paying for influenza vaccination themselves in the private market", so how large that gap is nobody knows.

Why are people aged 50 to 64 listed as a priority group? There is an official explanation, and it lines up with those 22 cases above: Hong Kong's influenza epidemiology shows that people aged 50 to 64, whether or not they have a chronic illness, are at relatively high risk of requiring intensive care or dying from influenza infection, and the Scientific Committee therefore recommends that this group receive seasonal influenza vaccination [Note 32]. Note "whether or not they have a chronic illness" — in this age group, not having a chronic illness is not a reason to feel safe.

⚠️ If you are 50 to 64, in good health, and think a flu jab is for old people: your group's figure under the government programme is 24.5% (2025/26, as at 26 July 2026), your group accounts for 22 of this season's 173 severe cases, and the official reason for putting you in a priority group is stated to have nothing to do with whether you have a chronic illness.

#When should you have it? Officially October to November — and the 2026/27 year has not started

The officially recommended time is October to November, the reason being that manufacturers wait for the World Health Organization's strain recommendation, published each year between the second month and March, before starting production; but today is 3 August 2026, what is in force is still the 2025/26 programme, and the subsidy amount and launch date for 2026/27 have not been published.

The Scientific Committee's recommendation of 1 April 2026 is: the public should be vaccinated before the main flu season arrives; on local past data influenza activity is generally higher from January to April each year, with a further period of activity in some years around July to August; and because manufacturers wait for the WHO's recommendation on strains for the northern hemisphere, published each year between the second month and March, before starting production, the Committee considers October to November the most suitable time for vaccination [Note 33].

Why so early? Because a vaccine does not work immediately — the body takes about two weeks after vaccination to produce antibodies against influenza viruses [Note 34]. The press release of 8 September 2025 says the same thing: after seasonal influenza vaccination, the body needs two weeks to produce enough antibodies for effective protection.

There is a practical gap here that the official documents do not address head-on, and this article only sets the two facts side by side. On one side: the Scientific Committee recommends vaccination in October to November, so as to be ahead of the main season from the first month to April. On the other: Hong Kong is already in a summer season that began at the end of June and is still rising, and the subsidy amount and launch date for the 2026/27 programme have not been published.

How much do the official pages say about the period in between? The "Vaccination Subsidy Scheme – doctors 2025/26" page still carries the 260 dollars of subsidy for seasonal influenza vaccine; the same page also says: "the Pneumococcal Vaccination Programme for the Elderly will continue throughout the year." That sentence is about pneumococcal vaccine only and says nothing about seasonal influenza — and the page carries no end date for the seasonal influenza vaccination service either. In other words, that page takes you only this far: the subsidy is still the 2025/26 amount, but whether a doctor near you still has vaccine, and whether they still charge, is not something the page will answer. To find out which doctors are still providing the service and whether they charge a co-payment, the official pointer is the doctor search tool at apps.hcv.gov.hk; asking before you telephone a clinic will save you a trip. Whether you should have it now or wait for the new year's vaccine turns on your age, your medical history and when you were last vaccinated, and is for a doctor to decide.

#The 2026/27 year: what has been published and what has not

What has been published is the school outreach arrangements, the recommended vaccine types, the recommended timing and the priority groups; what has not been published is the subsidy amount, the launch date and the eligible subsidised groups. The two are often run together as "2026/27 has not been announced", and that is not the position.

Published. The Centre for Health Protection's "Seasonal Influenza Vaccination School Outreach Programme" page (page self-dated 28 July 2026) states that the 2026/27 programme will continue to offer nasal spray live attenuated influenza vaccine to all schools, and will allow schools to choose freely between injectable inactivated and nasal spray live attenuated vaccine at the same or different outreach sessions; and that the programme offers schools a choice between the "government-supplied vaccine mode" and the "doctor-supplied vaccine mode" [Note 35]. The page listing doctors participating in the 2026/27 School Outreach Programme (page self-dated 27 July 2026) has also been uploaded, arranged by the four regions of Hong Kong Island, Kowloon, New Territories East and New Territories West.

The two modes have been renamed, and the old and new names appear together only on this page: the "government-supplied vaccine mode" was formerly the "Seasonal Influenza Vaccination School Outreach (Free) Programme"; the "doctor-supplied vaccine mode" was formerly the "Vaccination Subsidy School Outreach (Extra Charge Allowed) Programme" [Note 35]. Parents searching on the old names will not find the new year's arrangements. The same page also reminds readers that some schools still had no school outreach session in the 2025/26 year, and that parents of children at those schools should take them as soon as possible to a private doctor enrolled in the Vaccination Subsidy Scheme.

Also published, but be careful that it does not answer the question you think it does: the "priority groups" for 2026/27. The press release of 1 April 2026 states that the Committee recommends that the groups given priority for seasonal influenza vaccination in the 2026/27 season be the same as the previous year, covering healthcare workers, people aged 50 or above, pregnant women, residents of residential care homes, people with chronic health problems, children and adolescents aged six months to under 18, poultry workers, and people in the pig-raising and pig-slaughtering industries [Note 36]. The same press release also published the recommended vaccine types and the recommended timing for 2026/27.

But that list is not the answer to who gets free or subsidised vaccination. As the previous section separated them: priority groups are the order of vaccination recommended by the Scientific Committee, while the eligible subsidised groups are whom the government will pay for, and the two overlap closely but not completely. And on the eligible groups for 2026/27, the government's press release of 16 July 2026 says expressly that "detailed arrangements, including the eligible groups and vaccination venues, will be announced in due course". So this paragraph can be read as it stands, but it cannot be used as an eligibility table.

Not published, with the scope stated clearly: the Centre's "Vaccination Subsidy Scheme – doctors 2025/26" page (page self-dated 2 July 2026), its "vaccination programmes" page (page self-dated 11 December 2025, whose latest news still reads "the 2025-26 Seasonal Influenza Vaccination Programme was fully launched on 25 September"), its "2025/26 Government Vaccination Programme" page (page self-dated 19 September 2025) and its "Residential Care Home Vaccination Programme" page (page self-dated 25 September 2025) all carried, as at 3 August 2026, only the 2025/26 subsidy amounts, eligible groups or launch dates; the subsidy amount and launch date for 2026/27 do not appear on any of them. Over the same period, no government press release between 1 July and 3 August 2026 announced the launch of a 2026/27 seasonal influenza vaccination programme.

This is not something nobody has mentioned; the Department of Health has said itself that it will be announced later: the government is actively preparing the 2026/27 programme, including vaccine procurement and publicity, and detailed arrangements including the eligible groups and vaccination venues will be announced in due course [Note 37].

One inconspicuous but real change: the recommended vaccine types for 2026/27 narrow from "trivalent and quadrivalent" to "trivalent". Compare the two press releases: that of 8 September 2025, on the 2025/26 year, says "trivalent and quadrivalent seasonal influenza vaccines"; that of 1 April 2026, on 2026/27, says "trivalent seasonal influenza vaccines", both covering the same three kinds of inactivated, nasal spray live attenuated and recombinant [Note 38]. Neither press release announces this as a change; you only see it by setting them side by side. The background is on the FAQ page: according to the World Health Organization's surveillance data, B/Yamagata lineage viruses have now stopped circulating among humans [Note 39] — and the B/Yamagata component is exactly what a quadrivalent vaccine has and a trivalent one does not.

Incidentally, one point that will send you on a wasted trip. The Centre's "vaccination programmes" page (page self-dated 11 December 2025) lists four programmes, and its link for the Vaccination Subsidy Scheme points to chp.gov.hk/tc/features/46107.html, an address that on 3 August 2026 would not open (the page does not exist); the "2025/26 Government Vaccination Programme" (features/18630.html) and "Residential Care Home Vaccination Programme" (features/21657.html) links on the same list both opened normally that day. That is: a member of the public following the official navigation to find the Vaccination Subsidy Scheme runs into a dead link; the page still in force is the doctors' version at features/45849.html.

⚠️ If you are a parent planning your child's jab for the new school year: the 2026/27 school outreach arrangements and the list of participating doctors are already uploaded, but the two modes have been renamed; and if your school is not taking part in the outreach, the Centre for Health Protection tells you to take your child to a private doctor enrolled in the Vaccination Subsidy Scheme.

#What the vaccine can and cannot do, and who should not have which kind

Influenza vaccine is a vaccine of moderate effectiveness that has to be repeated every year; the figure the authorities themselves cite is 40 to 60 per cent, and the same question and answer attaches two conditions to it — one that the antigens must match, and one that the figure is for the population overall, not for elderly people.

The first paragraph of question 34 on the Centre for Health Protection's FAQ page cites the assessment of the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: during a flu season, if the vaccine's antigens match the circulating virus types, influenza vaccine can reduce the risk of influenza illness in the overall population by 40% to 60% [Note 40]. The condition "if the vaccine's antigens match the circulating virus types" cannot be stripped away — 40% to 60% is not an unconditional figure.

And the second paragraph of the same question and answer adds a second condition, about elderly people: inactivated influenza vaccine provides moderate protection against influenza illness in elderly people, and existing research data suggest recombinant influenza vaccine may be more effective than standard-dose inactivated influenza vaccine in that age group; as for live attenuated vaccine, overseas research and clinical experience generally show nasal spray live attenuated vaccine to be safe, with protection comparable to inactivated vaccine [Note 41].

In one sentence, the 40% to 60% carries two limits and not one: first, the antigens must match the circulating virus; second, that figure is for the population overall, and the Centre for Health Protection says something different about elderly people in the same breath — that inactivated vaccine gives "moderate" protection in elderly people, and that recombinant vaccine may be more effective in that age group. The table above has already answered whom this matters to most: of this season's 173 severe cases 134, and of the 94 deaths 85, were aged 65 or above. In other words, for the group of readers bearing most of this season's severe illness and deaths, 40% to 60% is not their figure — and it is the Centre for Health Protection that says so, in the same question and answer.

Note that the two sentences differ in scope: "more effective in that age group" is about elderly people as an age group, while the sentence in which the authorities expressly recommend choosing recombinant vaccine first is about elderly people living in residential care homes [Note 42]. This article does not merge the two. Which kind to have depends on your age, your medical history and supply, and is for a doctor to decide.

Why do people still catch it after being vaccinated? The same page gives four reasons: the body takes about two weeks after vaccination to produce antibodies, so someone infected shortly after vaccination will still fall ill; other respiratory virus infections can cause influenza-like symptoms; a small number of people develop side effects such as fever or muscle pain after inactivated vaccination, making them think they have influenza; and influenza vaccine does not give complete protection, its effectiveness being affected by how well the vaccine strains match the circulating strains and by the recipient's own factors such as age [Note 43].

The local comparative figures carry both their limits inside the sentence. In the press release of 1 April 2026 the Controller of the Centre for Health Protection said: on an in-depth analysis of the relationship between influenza-related severe cases during the summer 2025 flu season and vaccination, the data show that the rate of severe complications or death after influenza infection among children who had not received the 2025/26 influenza vaccine was about five times that of vaccinated children; and that the rate of severe influenza among residential care home residents aged 65 or above who had not received the vaccine was about four times that of vaccinated residents [Note 44].

That is: the five times is about children, and the four times is about residents of residential care homes aged 65 or above — not "all elderly people", and certainly not "all adults". Both figures come from an analysis of the summer 2025 season, not this one.

How many doses? Children aged 6 months to under 9 who have never received influenza vaccine are recommended to have two doses this season, at least 28 days apart; children under 9 who have previously received any seasonal influenza vaccine need only one dose this season; and people aged 9 or above need only one dose a year [Note 45]. The two doses "need not be of the same kind".

Three kinds of vaccine, with different age ranges. Inactivated influenza vaccine is for people over 6 months (some brands for those aged 3 or above); recombinant influenza vaccine is for people aged 18 or above; nasal spray live attenuated influenza vaccine is recommended only for non-pregnant, non-immunocompromised people aged 2 to 49 [Note 46]. For elderly people in residential care homes: where supply allows, they should first choose recombinant influenza vaccine, which may give elderly people better protection [Note 42].

⚠️ Who should not have nasal spray live attenuated influenza vaccine — this list matters particularly, because in the 2026/27 year every school may choose the nasal spray vaccine. The authorities list seven situations in which it should not be given: a severe allergic reaction to any component of a vaccine or after any influenza vaccination; children and adolescents on aspirin or salicylate-containing medication; children aged two to four with asthma or who have had wheezing in the past 12 months; children and adults with weakened immune function for any reason; close contacts and carers of severely immunosuppressed people requiring care in a protected environment; pregnancy; and having taken influenza antiviral medication in the past 48 hours [Note 47]. The third item carries a further note citing finer rules from the United Kingdom and Canada on a history of wheezing (72 hours, 7 days) and on severe asthma [Note 48].

For parents whose school says the nasal spray vaccine may be chosen this year and whose child has asthma or is on long-term aspirin: the list of contraindications to the nasal spray live attenuated vaccine expressly covers both situations, and the Centre for Health Protection's answer is not "do not vaccinate" but "have the inactivated kind" — because children with lung disease such as asthma are at higher risk of complications when they catch influenza, and should therefore receive inactivated influenza vaccine [Note 49].

In the passage about inactivated influenza vaccine, "severe allergic reaction" appears twice, and it means two different things. The first is to a vaccine component or to influenza vaccine itself — that is a contraindication. The second is to egg — and the Centre for Health Protection's answer on egg is not "do not vaccinate" but "be vaccinated in an appropriate setting". The full official wording is at [Note 50], and the triage is: influenza vaccine does contain ovalbumin, but repeated purification during manufacture leaves the content extremely low, so even people allergic to egg can generally be vaccinated safely; those with a mild allergy may be vaccinated at a primary care setting and observed for 30 minutes afterwards; and those who have had a severe allergic reaction to egg should be vaccinated by healthcare professionals in an appropriate medical setting able to recognise and manage severe allergic reactions. The same page repeats the same arrangement at question 22 (nasal spray live attenuated vaccine) and question 38 (history of egg allergy). Separately, recombinant influenza vaccine expressly "does not contain egg protein" [Note 51].

These lists are not a list on which "not being on it means you are certainly suitable". The page adds the same sentence after each paragraph: "for details please ask a doctor." People with bleeding disorders or taking anticoagulants should consult a doctor; anyone with a fever on the day may postpone until they have recovered [Note 50] [Note 51].

On Guillain-Barré syndrome, the authorities even give a local figure. Overseas studies estimate the risk of Guillain-Barré syndrome after influenza vaccination at about one to two cases in every 一百萬 vaccine recipients; among people who received seasonal influenza vaccine in the 2024-25 season, one case was recorded in Hong Kong (occurring between five days and six weeks after vaccination, as at 17 March 2025); and between 2020 and 2024, admissions to public hospitals in Hong Kong for Guillain-Barré syndrome from all causes ran at 33 to 88 cases a year [Note 52]. That is: putting the two sets of figures together, Hong Kong already has some tens of cases a year from all causes, while the estimated vaccine-related risk is one to two in one million.

⚠️ If you are allergic to egg and have always assumed you cannot have a flu jab: the Centre for Health Protection says three times on the same page that egg allergy is not a contraindication; a mild allergy means being vaccinated at a primary care setting and observed for 30 minutes, and a past severe allergic reaction to egg means choosing a medical setting able to manage severe allergic reactions — not going without.

#"When should I see a doctor" — the authorities publish no warning-sign list; what they say is something else

The Centre for Health Protection has published no list of "warning signs that mean seeking medical attention at once"; what it has published is a rule with a far lower threshold: anyone with symptoms of a respiratory infection, however mild, should seek medical attention early.

The original text of the government press release of 2 July 2026, and the consistent version two weeks later on 16 July with one additional home measure, are both reproduced at [Note 53].

In one sentence, the official rule has four actions and its threshold is "having symptoms of a respiratory infection", not "being ill to some degree": wear a surgical mask, do not go to work or school, avoid crowded places, and seek medical attention early; and if you live with someone at high risk or with weak immunity, wear a mask at home too.

Why does this article give you no "warning-sign list"? Because none of the sources for this article has one for influenza illness. The week 30 2019 Coronavirus Disease & Flu Express (Chinese and English versions), the government press releases of 2 July and 16 July 2026 (Chinese and English versions), the Centre for Health Protection's "seasonal influenza vaccine" page, its "seasonal influenza" page and its "frequently asked questions on seasonal influenza vaccination in Hong Kong for the 2025-26 season" page all carry no list of "symptoms of influenza illness that mean seeking medical attention at once". If this site assembled such a list itself, it would become a dangerous thing: a reader whose symptoms were not on it would infer that they were fine — and no source supports that inference.

But there is one area for which express indicators do exist, and it is not the same as influenza illness, so it is dealt with separately: reactions after vaccination. The FAQ page prints the same sentence three times, at questions 24, 25 and 26 (on the side effects of inactivated, recombinant and live attenuated vaccine respectively): if fever persists after vaccination, or a severe allergic reaction occurs (difficulty breathing, swelling of the mouth or tongue, hives, for example), or there is any other adverse reaction, consult a doctor immediately [Note 54]. That sentence is about adverse reactions after vaccination, not about influenza illness itself; the two cannot be transposed.

Two more points that the official documents state expressly and that many people get wrong.

One, you cannot tell from symptoms whether it is influenza. The FAQ page states that other respiratory virus infections can cause influenza-like symptoms, leading patients to think they have influenza; and more than influenza has been rising over the same period. The two press releases say different things and have to be read separately: the press release of 2 July 2026 also dealt with respiratory syncytial virus, saying its activity had risen slightly of late, with two limits attached — the test positive rate had climbed gradually from a low at the start of the year to 2.59% the previous week, but remained below the 8% to 10% recorded at past peaks; the press release of 16 July 2026 does not mention respiratory syncytial virus at all, and speaks of COVID instead — that COVID and seasonal influenza activity both rose further the previous week, with COVID activity reaching a one-year high. Which illness it is takes a laboratory test, not a symptom table.

Two, "I am healthy, young and have no chronic illness" is not a reason to feel safe. The week 30 report says: influenza can cause severe illness in people at high risk, and healthy people are also affected. The FAQ page says: severe infection or influenza complications can also occur in healthy people. And for the 50 to 64 group, the Scientific Committee's stated reason for recommending vaccination is expressly "whether or not they have a chronic illness".

The Centre for Health Protection's own concluding sentence, worded identically in two documents: because seasonal influenza vaccine is safe and effective, everyone aged 6 months or above other than those with known contraindications should receive influenza vaccination to prevent influenza infection and its complications and to reduce the associated risk of hospitalisation and death [Note 55].

⚠️ If you want to "wait it out rather than waste time seeing a doctor": the official threshold is not "how ill you are" but "whether you have symptoms of a respiratory infection"; if you have symptoms, stay away from work or school and seek medical attention early. Whether you need antiviral medication or hospital admission on that occasion is for a doctor to decide.

#What to do next

1. First work out which clock you are on. You are in the summer 2026 flu season (from week 26, still running); what applies when you go for a jab is the 2025/26 programme and its 260 dollars of subsidy. Do not assume the information is out of date because of the year in the heading.
2. Run through the eligibility table once. Go line by line through the "layer one" table above; and if you are a residential care home resident, a healthcare worker, a poultry worker or someone in the pig-raising or pig-slaughtering industry, you are not on that table and should look at the "other groups eligible for seasonal influenza vaccination" page. Note that hypertension without complications does not count as a chronic illness for this programme.
3. If you are 18 or above, deal with eHealth first. This is a hard threshold. If you have not registered in advance, you can use the "quick eHealth registration" service on the spot at the vaccination venue.
4. Before telephoning a clinic, ask two questions. First, are you enrolled in the Vaccination Subsidy Scheme; and second, after the 260 dollars of subsidy is deducted, how much do I still pay. To filter directly for doctors with no co-payment, use the official search tool at apps.hcv.gov.hk.
5. If you have a child aged 2 to 4, with asthma or a history of wheezing, or on long-term aspirin, check which vaccine the outreach programme has chosen before you hand in the school form. The contraindications to the nasal spray live attenuated vaccine cover these situations, and the official answer is to have the inactivated vaccine instead, not to go without.
6. Do not rule yourself out because you are allergic to egg. The official triage decides the setting for vaccination by the severity of the allergy, not whether to vaccinate at all.
7. If you have symptoms of a respiratory infection, stay away from work or school and seek medical attention early. Do not wait for some threshold of "bad enough" — the authorities have never set one.
8. The surveillance figures cited in this article change weekly. When you read this, follow the links under sources to check against the latest issue of 2019 Coronavirus Disease & Flu Express.

#Frequently asked questions

It is August 2026 — is Hong Kong still in a flu season? Does the "2025/26" in the headline mean this season?

It is still a flu season: the Centre for Health Protection's week 30 2019 Coronavirus Disease & Flu Express (published 30 July 2026) opens "Hong Kong is currently in a flu season. The latest surveillance data show that overall influenza activity is continuing to rise." The season counts from week 26 of 2026 (21 to 27 June) and the Centre announced it on 2 July; as at 3 August 2026 the last issue listed in the series' publication index was number 30. And "2025/26" is not the name of a season but the year of the vaccination programme (the Vaccination Subsidy Scheme launched on 22 September 2025 and the other programmes on 25 September). The Centre has not named this season, and its reports call it "this season" throughout.

Does the $260 subsidy mean my jab is free?

No. The 260 dollars is the subsidy the government pays a doctor enrolled in the Vaccination Subsidy Scheme. The programme page states in terms that "after the subsidy is deducted, the doctor may charge an additional fee", and another page adds that "a doctor may charge an additional fee, and some doctors will not charge", while the official pages and the related press releases carry no cap or typical amount for the co-payment. To find a doctor with no co-payment, the Centre for Health Protection points to the doctor search tool at apps.hcv.gov.hk. The exception is the 100 000 doses of injectable inactivated influenza vaccine procured by the government for "designated family doctors": doctors accepting that arrangement "may not charge the person vaccinated any additional fee".

I am 30 with no chronic illness — do I qualify for free or subsidised vaccination?

On the table of eligible persons on the "seasonal influenza vaccine" page (page self-dated 8 September 2025), the row for ages 18 to 49 covers only people with a chronic illness and eligible people with an intellectual disability or a disability; an ordinary adult under 50 with no chronic illness, not pregnant and not in those groups is not on that table. Note that three further groups (residents of residential care homes, healthcare workers, and poultry workers and people in the pig-raising and pig-slaughtering industries) are not on that table; they are on the "other groups eligible for seasonal influenza vaccination" page (chp.gov.hk/tc/features/108125.html) reached from that page's "click here for details", and in the annex to the press release of 8 September 2025. Hypertension without complications does not count as a chronic illness for the purposes of that page's notes.

94 people have died this season — is it an unusually bad year?

On the Centre for Health Protection's own basis of comparison (five whole weeks): this season's adult severe cases number 143, against 129 in the summer 2023 season, 155 in the 2023/24 season, 264 in the winter 2024/25 season and 132 in the summer 2025 season, so third. Deaths this season number 80, the lowest of the five. Note also that the figure of 94 is a cumulative count from the start of the season to 29 July, on a different time window from the 143, and the two are not interchangeable; and the report says expressly that the reason a case required intensive care or died "may have been another acute condition or a chronic disease".

If I get a jab now, which year's vaccine am I getting?

As at 3 August 2026, the Centre for Health Protection's "Vaccination Subsidy Scheme – doctors 2025/26" page (page self-dated 2 July 2026) still carried the 2025/26 subsidy of 260 dollars, and the subsidy amount and launch date for 2026/27 do not appear on the Centre's relevant pages; the press release of 16 July 2026 says the government is preparing the 2026/27 programme and that detailed arrangements "will be announced in due course". The Scientific Committee recommends October to November as the most suitable time for vaccination, and the body takes about two weeks after vaccination to produce antibodies. Whether you should have it now is for a doctor to decide.

Do people over 18 really have to register with eHealth to get a jab?

Yes. The press release of 8 September 2025: "from this year onwards, eligible persons aged 18 or above must have registered with eHealth in order to receive subsidised or free seasonal influenza vaccination." The FAQ page adds that the "quick eHealth registration" service is available at vaccination venues; and the Centre for Health Protection's "other groups eligible for seasonal influenza vaccination" page carries the same rule, reading "anyone aged 18 or above being vaccinated must have registered with eHealth".

I am allergic to egg — does that mean I cannot have a flu jab?

No. The Centre for Health Protection's "frequently asked questions on seasonal influenza vaccination in Hong Kong for the 2025-26 season" page (page self-dated 8 September 2025) states at questions 20, 22 and 38 that "even people allergic to egg can generally be vaccinated safely". The triage sets the vaccination setting by the severity of the allergy: a mild allergy means one "may be vaccinated at a primary care setting" and "observed for 30 minutes after vaccination"; a past severe allergic reaction to egg means one "should be vaccinated by healthcare professionals in an appropriate medical setting able to recognise and manage severe allergic reactions". Recombinant influenza vaccine also "does not contain egg protein" and is for people aged 18 or above. Where and which kind you should have on any occasion is for a doctor to decide.

The authorities say influenza vaccine is 40 to 60 per cent effective — is that the figure for elderly people too?

It is not the same figure. The 40% to 60% in the first paragraph of the same question and answer (question 34) carries the condition "if the vaccine's antigens match the circulating virus types" and is expressly a figure for "the overall population"; the paragraph immediately after says something different about elderly people: "inactivated influenza vaccine provides moderate protection against influenza illness in elderly people. Existing research data suggest recombinant influenza vaccine may be more effective than standard-dose inactivated influenza vaccine in that age group." Of this season's 173 severe cases 134, and of the 94 deaths 85, were aged 65 or above. The same page also states that "where supply allows, elderly people living in residential care homes should first choose recombinant influenza vaccine, which may give elderly people better protection".

#Notes: the official texts

[Note 1] Government press release, 2026-07-02:

The Centre for Health Protection (the Centre) of the Department of Health announced today (2 July) that local seasonal influenza activity had risen further and exceeded the baseline level, indicating that Hong Kong has entered a flu season. (our translation from the Chinese original)

Chinese original:

「衞生署衞生防護中心（中心）今日（七月二日）宣布，本地季節性流感活躍程度進一步上升，並超越基線水平，反映香港已進入流感季節。」

[Note 2] The same release:

Flu seasons occurring in summer in Hong Kong are generally from July to August. The flu season that began last September lasted longer, not ending until early January this year, while the flu season that usually appears in the first quarter of each year did not appear this year. The Centre cannot at present predict how long this flu season will last, but on past surveillance data virus activity keeps climbing for a period after a flu season begins before reaching its peak, and influenza activity is expected to rise further in the coming weeks. (our translation from the Chinese original)

Chinese original:

「本港在夏季出現的流感季節一般在七月至八月。去年九月開始的流感季節持續時間較長，直至今年一月初才結束，而通常於每年第一季出現的流感季節於今年則沒有出現。中心目前難以預測今次流感季節將會維持多久，但參考以往的監測數據，病毒的活躍程度會在進入流感季節後持續攀升一段時間才會到達頂峰，預料流感活躍程度在未來數周會進一步上升。」

[Note 3] Week 30 report, page 10:

The 2025/26 Seasonal Influenza Vaccination Programme (including the Seasonal Influenza Vaccination School Outreach Programme and the Residential Care Home Vaccination Programme) began on 25 September 2025, and the Vaccination Subsidy Scheme began on 22 September 2025; eligible high-risk groups may receive seasonal influenza vaccination free or with a subsidy through the various vaccination programmes. (our translation from the Chinese original)

Chinese original:

「2025/26 年度季節性流感疫苗接種計劃（包括季節性流感疫苗學校外展計劃和院舍防疫注射計劃）已於 2025 年 9 月 25 日展開，而疫苗資助計劃亦於 2025 年 9 月 22 日展開，合資格的高風險群組可透過各項疫苗注射計劃免費或獲資助接種季節性流感疫苗。」

[Note 4] Centre for Health Protection, "frequently asked questions on seasonal influenza vaccination in Hong Kong for the 2025-26 season":

Influenza is an acute respiratory illness caused by influenza viruses. Influenza can be caused by several types of influenza virus, the commonest in Hong Kong being influenza A (H1), influenza A (H3) and influenza B. Influenza cases occur all year round in Hong Kong, but are generally commoner from January to March or April and from July to August. The virus spreads mainly by respiratory droplets, and patients develop symptoms such as fever, sore throat, cough, runny nose, headache, muscle pain and general fatigue. Patients generally recover by themselves within 2 to 7 days. However, people with weaker immunity and elderly people who catch influenza may develop more serious illness, and may develop complications such as bronchitis, pneumonia or encephalopathy, which in severe cases can even be fatal. Severe infection or influenza complications can also occur in healthy people. (our translation from the Chinese original)

Chinese original:

「流行性感冒（簡稱流感）是一種由流感病毒引致的急性呼吸道疾病。流感可由多種類型的流感病毒引起，而本港最常見的是甲型（H1）流感、甲型（H3）流感和乙型流感病毒。本港全年都有流感病例，但一般在一月至三月／四月及七月至八月較為常見。病毒主要透過呼吸道飛沫傳播，患者會出現發燒、喉嚨痛、咳嗽、流鼻水、頭痛、肌肉疼痛及全身疲倦等症狀。患者一般會在 2 至 7 天內自行痊癒。然而，免疫力較低的人和長者一旦染上流感，可以引致較重病情，並可能會出現支氣管炎、肺炎或腦病變等併發症，嚴重時更可導致死亡。嚴重感染或流感併發症亦有可能發生在健康人士身上。」

[Note 5] The same page:

An influenza pandemic is rare. An influenza pandemic occurs only when a novel influenza virus emerges that differs markedly from the influenza viruses already circulating among humans. (our translation from the Chinese original)

Chinese original:

「流感大流行則屬罕見。當一種與在人類之間已經流行的流感病毒顯著不同的新型流感病毒出現時，才會發生流感大流行。」

[Note 6] Centre for Health Protection, "seasonal influenza":

In Hong Kong, seasonal influenza generally circulates more from the first to the third month or April, and in the seventh month and August. (our translation from the Chinese original)

Chinese original:

「在本港，季節性流感一般於一至三／四月和七、八月較為流行。」

[Note 7] Week 30 report, pages 11 and 13:

The Centre for Health Protection (the Centre) of the Department of Health has been closely monitoring local influenza activity through a series of indicators. Among them, the Centre has set baseline levels for two important influenza indicators: the percentage of respiratory specimens testing positive for influenza virus, and the admission rate of inpatients diagnosed with influenza at public hospitals. These baseline levels are derived by statistical methods from data collected on those two indicators during past non-influenza seasons. The Centre uses the baseline levels to assess whether Hong Kong has entered a flu season, so as to assess current influenza activity more accurately. The Centre carries out a review and statistical analysis each year to decide whether the baseline levels need updating. The updated indicators for the virus test rate and the admission rate will be more synchronised, increasing the sensitivity of the surveillance system. (our translation from the Chinese original)

Chinese original:

「衞生署衞生防護中心（中心）一直透過一系列指標密切監測本地流感的活躍情況。其中，中心為兩個重要的流感指標設定了基線水平，包括呼吸道樣本中流感病毒檢測呈陽性的百分比及公立醫院住院病人被診斷為流感的入院率。這些基線水平是利用過去在非流感季節期間就該兩個指標收集的數據，通過統計學方法計算得出。中心利用基線水平評估本地是否已進入流感季節，以更準確地評估當前的流感活躍情況。中心每年會進行審視和統計分析，決定是否需要更新基線水平。更新後的病毒檢測比率及入院率的指標會更為同步，加強監測系統的靈敏度。」

[Note 8] The same report:

Above the baseline level of 0.27, but at a low intensity level (our translation from the Chinese original)

Chinese original:

「高於 0.27 的基線水平，但處於低強度水平」

With the note:

The Centre for Health Protection calculates the intensity levels applicable to this year by the Moving Epidemic Method (MEM). (our translation from the Chinese original)

Chinese original:

「衞生防護中心以 Moving Epidemic Method（MEM）計算出適用於本年度的各強度水平。」

[Note 9] Week 30 report, page 11, asterisked footnote:

Including 10,665 specimens collected by the Public Health Laboratory Services Branch of the Centre for Health Protection and 759 collected by the Hospital Authority (our translation from the Chinese original)

Chinese original:

「包括 10,665 個由衞生防護中心公共衞生化驗服務處所收集的樣本及 759 個由醫院管理局所收集的樣本」

[Note 10] The same page:

The typed influenza virus tests comprised 483 (41%) influenza A (H1), 567 (48%) influenza A (H3) and 138 (11%) influenza B. (our translation from the Chinese original)

Chinese original:

「已分型的流感病毒檢測包括 483 株（41%）甲型（H1）流感、567 株（48%）甲型（H3）流感及 138 株（11%）乙型流感。」

[Note 11] A note on the same page:

Some specimens may include vaccine virus strains from people who have recently received live attenuated influenza vaccine (our translation from the Chinese original)

Chinese original:

「部分樣本可能包括來自近期接種減活流感疫苗人士的疫苗病毒株」

[Note 12] Week 30 report, page 10:

Hong Kong is currently in a flu season. The latest surveillance data show that overall influenza activity is continuing to rise. (our translation from the Chinese original)

Chinese original:

「本港現時處於流感季節。最新監測數據顯示，整體流感活躍程度持續上升。」

[Note 13] A note in the same report:

The unit for influenza virus in sewage is influenza virus copies per thousand gene copies of pepper mild mottle virus (PMMoV), a standardised unit. (our translation from the Chinese original)

Chinese original:

「污水中流感病毒含量的單位為每千個『辣椒輕斑駁病毒』（PMMoV）基因拷貝中的流感病毒拷貝數，是一個標準化單位。」

[Note 14] The same report:

The admission rates to public hospitals with influenza as the principal diagnosis for people aged 0-5, 6-11, 12-17, 18-49, 50-64 and 65 or above were 2.99, 1.57, 0.56, 0.18, 0.25 and 1.50 cases respectively (per 10,000 population in that age group), against 2.76, 1.92, 0.83, 0.14, 0.23 and 1.26 cases the previous week (our translation from the Chinese original)

Chinese original:

「0-5 歲、6-11 歲、12-17 歲、18-49 歲、50-64 歲及 65 歲或以上人士在公立醫院主要診斷為流感的入院率分別為 2.99、1.57、0.56、0.18、0.25 和 1.50 宗（該年齡組別每一萬人口計），對比前一周的 2.76、1.92、0.83、0.14、0.23 和 1.26 宗」

[Note 15] The same report:

During the flu season, 169 adult cases of laboratory-confirmed influenza requiring admission to an intensive care unit or resulting in death were recorded, including 94 deaths (as at 29 July). Of these cases, 99 were infected with influenza A (H3), 43 with influenza A (H1), 18 with influenza B and 9 with influenza A pending subtyping. (our translation from the Chinese original)

Chinese original:

「在流感季節期間，共錄得 169 宗經化驗確診流感並需入住深切治療部或死亡的成人個案，當中包括 94 宗死亡個案（截至 7 月 29 日）。這些個案中，有 99 人感染甲型（H3）流感，43 人感染甲型（H1）流感，18 人感染乙型流感和 9 人感染甲型流感（有待分型）。」

[Note 16] The same report:

Comparing past data, over the same surveillance period in the summer 2023 season, the 2023/24 season, the winter 2024/25 season and the summer 2025 flu season (counted in whole weeks, 5 weeks in all), 129, 155, 264 and 132 cases respectively were recorded, against 143 cases this season (our translation from the Chinese original)

Chinese original:

「比較過往數據，在 2023 年夏季、2023/24 年季節、2024/25 年冬季及 2025 年夏季流感季節的相同監測時段（以整周計算，共 5 周），分別錄得 129 宗、155 宗、264 宗及 132 宗個案，對比本季的 143 宗個案」

On deaths:

Over the corresponding periods of those seasons, 81, 95, 166 and 94 deaths respectively were recorded, against 80 deaths this season (our translation from the Chinese original)

Chinese original:

「在上述季節的相應時段內，分別錄得 81 宗、95 宗、166 宗及 94 宗死亡個案，對比本季的 80 宗死亡個案」

On outbreaks:

Since Hong Kong entered the flu season in week 26 this year, 159 outbreaks have been recorded (as at 29 July) (our translation from the Chinese original)

Chinese original:

「自本年第 26 周進入流感季節起，共錄得 159 宗爆發個案（截至 7 月 29 日）」

[Note 17] The same report:

The surveillance covers patients who during that admission were confirmed by laboratory test to have influenza and required admission to an intensive care unit or died. However, the reason a patient required intensive care or died may have been another acute condition or a chronic disease. (our translation from the Chinese original)

Chinese original:

「監測對象為病人於該次入院期間，經化驗確診流感並需入住深切治療部或死亡。然而，個案中病人入住深切治療部或死亡的原因可能是由其他急性情況或慢性疾病而引致。」

[Note 18] The same report:

Among adult death cases for which clinical information is available, about 87% had a chronic disease. (our translation from the Chinese original)

Chinese original:

「在已掌握臨床資料的成人死亡個案中，大約有 87% 有慢性疾病。」

[Note 19] The same report:

During this flu season, of cases of laboratory-confirmed influenza requiring admission to a public hospital, 1.8% of patients died during that admission. That rate is currently below the past range (2.5% in the winter 2017/18 flu season and 4.5% in the winter 2024/25 flu season). (our translation from the Chinese original)

Chinese original:

「本流感季節期間，經化驗確診流感並需入住公立醫院的個案中，有 1.8% 病人於該次入院期間死亡。目前該比率低於以往範圍（2017/18 年冬季流感季節的 2.5% 及 2024/25 年冬季流感季節的 4.5%）。」

[Note 20] Centre for Health Protection, "Vaccination Subsidy Scheme – doctors 2025/26":

The Vaccination Subsidy Scheme is a scheme providing subsidised seasonal influenza and pneumococcal vaccination for eligible Hong Kong residents through the participation of private doctors. Participating doctors provide vaccination for eligible persons, and the government gives the doctor a vaccine subsidy. After the subsidy is deducted, the doctor may charge an additional fee. (our translation from the Chinese original)

Chinese original:

「『疫苗資助計劃』是一項透過私家醫生參與為合資格香港居民提供資助接種季節性流感和肺炎球菌疫苗的計劃。參加計劃的醫生為符合資格人士提供疫苗接種，政府會給予醫生疫苗資助額。扣除資助後，醫生可能會額外收取費用。」

[Note 21] Centre for Health Protection, "seasonal influenza vaccine", note one:

Applicable to family doctors enrolled in the Vaccination Subsidy Scheme. A doctor may charge an additional fee, and some doctors will not charge. If your family doctor is not enrolled in the Vaccination Subsidy Scheme, please choose an enrolled family doctor to vaccinate you against influenza at the site given in the original below. (our translation from the Chinese original)

Chinese original:

「適用於已登記參與『疫苗資助計劃』的家庭醫生。醫生可能會額外收費，亦有一些醫生不會收費。如你的家庭醫生沒有登記參與『疫苗資助計劃』，請於以下網站中選擇一位已登記參與的家庭醫生為你接種流感疫苗　https://apps.hcv.gov.hk/public/tc/SPS/Search」

[Note 22] Government press release, 2025-09-08, on that site: 「加強搜尋功能，方便市民選擇有提供免共付額疫苗的醫生」 — an enhanced search function to make it convenient for members of the public to choose doctors offering vaccines with no co-payment (our translation from the Chinese original).

[Note 23] The same release, the fourth new initiative:

Besides continuing to procure vaccines for the Department of Health, the Hospital Authority and related organisations this year, the Department of Health has also helped procure an additional 100 000 doses of injectable inactivated influenza vaccine for "designated family doctors" enrolled in the Vaccination Subsidy Scheme. Family doctors accepting that arrangement may not charge the person vaccinated any additional fee, so as to lighten the financial burden of vaccination at a private clinic and increase the incentive to be vaccinated. (our translation from the Chinese original)

Chinese original:

「衞生署今年除了繼續為衞生署、醫院管理局及相關機構採購疫苗外，亦額外為參與『疫苗資助計劃』的『指定家庭醫生』協助採購了 10 萬劑注射式滅活流感疫苗，接受有關安排的家庭醫生不可向接種人士收取任何額外費用，以減低市民於私家診所接種疫苗的經濟負擔，提升接種誘因。」

[Note 24] Centre for Health Protection, "seasonal influenza vaccine", note two:

Under the Seasonal Influenza Vaccination School Outreach Programme, all schoolchildren, whether or not they hold Hong Kong resident status, and secondary school students aged 18 or above, are eligible for free or subsidised influenza vaccination. (our translation from the Chinese original)

Chinese original:

「在『季節性流感疫苗學校外展計劃』下，所有學童，不論是否擁有香港居民身分，以及 18 歲或以上的中學生，均符合資格免費或獲資助接種流感疫苗。」

[Note 25] Note three on the same page: 「長期病患包括：」 — chronic illnesses include (our translation from the Chinese original) — followed by four items:

Chronic cardiovascular disease (excluding hypertension without complications), lung disease, liver disease or kidney disease; metabolic diseases including diabetes mellitus or obesity (body mass index 30 or above); weakened immunity (from conditions such as asplenia, human immunodeficiency virus infection or AIDS, or cancer or steroid treatment); and chronic neurological conditions that compromise respiratory function, make respiratory secretions difficult to manage, increase the risk of aspiration, or leave the person unable to care for themselves. (our translation from the Chinese original)

Chinese original:

「長期心血管疾病（高血壓而沒有併發症除外）、肺病、肝病或腎病；」 「新陳代謝疾病包括糖尿病或肥胖（體重指數 30 或以上）；」 「免疫力弱（因情況如無脾、人類免疫力缺乏病毒感染／愛滋病或癌症／類固醇治療引致）；及」 「長期神經系統疾病致危及呼吸功能、難於處理呼吸道分泌物、增加異物入肺風險或欠缺自我照顧能力。」

[Note 26] The same page, in the line below note three:

The government's seasonal influenza vaccination programmes also provide free or subsidised seasonal influenza vaccination for certain high-risk groups. Click here for details. (our translation from the Chinese original)

Chinese original:

「政府的季節性流感疫苗接種計劃亦會為某些高風險群組提供免費或資助的季節性流感疫苗接種。請按此了解有關詳情。」

[Note 27] Government press release, 2025-09-08:

In addition, to help members of the public manage their own health and healthcare services more effectively, and to make it easier for healthcare workers to provide continuity of personal healthcare, eligible persons aged 18 or above must from this year onwards have registered with eHealth in order to receive subsidised or free seasonal influenza vaccination. (our translation from the Chinese original)

Chinese original:

「另外，為協助市民更有效管理個人健康及醫護服務，同時便利醫護人員提供具連貫性的個人醫療服務，18 歲或以上的合資格人士由本年度開始須登記醫健通，才能接種資助或免費季節性流感疫苗。」

[Note 28] The FAQ page:

Members of the public may register with eHealth before being vaccinated. Everyone aged 18 or above must have registered with eHealth in order to receive free or subsidised seasonal influenza vaccination. You may use the "quick eHealth registration" service at the vaccination venue. (our translation from the Chinese original)

Chinese original:

「市民可在接種疫苗前先登記醫健通。所有年滿 18 歲的人士必須登記醫健通，才可免費或獲資助接種季節性流感疫苗。你可於疫苗接種地點使用『快捷登記醫健通』服務。」

[Note 29] Government press release, 2026-04-01:

At present the government cannot fully capture data on members of the public paying for influenza vaccination themselves in the private market. The Scientific Committee recommends making good use of the electronic health record system (eHealth) in future, encouraging all healthcare workers to update patients' vaccination records promptly through eHealth and fully integrating data on vaccination at public and private healthcare institutions, so as to assist in monitoring vaccination rates and in public health management. (our translation from the Chinese original)

Chinese original:

「目前，政府未能全面掌握市民在私營市場自費接種流感疫苗的數據。科學委員會建議日後應善用電子健康系統（醫健通），鼓勵所有醫護人員透過醫健通及時更新病人的疫苗接種紀錄，全面整合市民在公私營醫護機構接種疫苗的數據，以協助監測疫苗接種率及公共衞生管理。」

[Note 30] Government press release, 2025-09-08, the first new initiative: people aged 18 to 49 with a chronic illness are eligible regardless of their financial circumstances.

[Note 31] Centre for Health Protection, "statistics on vaccination programmes in the past three years", the note above the table:

The government provides free or subsidised seasonal influenza vaccination and pneumococcal vaccination for eligible Hong Kong residents (the target groups). The statistics below include doses administered to target groups under the government's Seasonal Influenza Vaccination Programme and Pneumococcal Vaccination Programme. Data on vaccination through other channels are not included. (our translation from the Chinese original)

Chinese original:

「政府為合資格的香港居民（目標群組）提供免費或資助季節性流感疫苗及肺炎球菌疫苗接種。以下統計數字包括由政府推行的季節性流感疫苗接種計劃及肺炎球菌疫苗接種計劃下為目標群組接種的劑數。透過其他途徑接種疫苗的數據並不包括在內。」

[Note 32] The FAQ page:

Hong Kong's influenza epidemiology shows that people aged 50 to 64, whether or not they have a chronic illness, are at relatively high risk of requiring admission to an intensive care unit or dying from influenza virus infection. The Scientific Committee therefore also recommends that people aged 50 to 64 receive seasonal influenza vaccination. (our translation from the Chinese original)

Chinese original:

「本港流感流行病學顯示 50 至 64 歲人士無論是否有長期病患，他們因感染流感病毒而須要進入深切治療部或死亡的風險比較高。因此，科學委員會亦建議 50 至 64 歲人士接種季節性流感疫苗。」

[Note 33] Government press release, 2026-04-01:

On timing, the Scientific Committee recommends that members of the public receive seasonal influenza vaccination before the main flu season arrives. On local past data, influenza activity is generally higher from January to April each year, with a further period of influenza activity in some years around July to August. Because vaccine manufacturers wait for the WHO's recommendation, published each year between the second month and March, on the virus strains to be used in influenza vaccines for the northern hemisphere before starting production, the Scientific Committee considers October to November the most suitable time for vaccination. (our translation from the Chinese original)

Chinese original:

「接種疫苗時間方面，科學委員會建議市民應在主要流感季節來臨前接種季節性流感疫苗。根據本地過往數據，流感活躍程度一般於每年一月至四月處於較高水平，部分年份亦會在大約七月至八月期間出現另一流感活躍期。由於疫苗製造商需等待世衞每年二至三月公布北半球地區流感疫苗採用的病毒株建議後才開始生產疫苗，因此科學委員會認為十月至十一月為最適合的接種時間。」

[Note 34] The FAQ page:

No; the body takes about two weeks after vaccination to produce antibodies against influenza viruses. (our translation from the Chinese original)

Chinese original:

「不會。接種疫苗後身體約需兩星期產生抗體來預防流感病毒。」

Government press release, 2025-09-08:

After seasonal influenza vaccination, the body needs two weeks to produce enough antibodies for effective protection. (our translation from the Chinese original)

Chinese original:

「接種季節性流感疫苗後，身體需要兩星期才能產生足夠抗體作有效保護。」

[Note 35] Centre for Health Protection, "Seasonal Influenza Vaccination School Outreach Programme":

The 2026/27 Seasonal Influenza Vaccination School Outreach Programme will continue to offer nasal spray live attenuated influenza vaccine to all schools, and will allow all schools to choose freely between injectable inactivated and nasal spray live attenuated influenza vaccine at the same or different outreach sessions. The Seasonal Influenza Vaccination School Outreach Programme offers schools a choice between the "government-supplied vaccine mode" (formerly the "Seasonal Influenza Vaccination School Outreach (Free) Programme") and the "doctor-supplied vaccine mode" (formerly the "Vaccination Subsidy School Outreach (Extra Charge Allowed) Programme"), providing free or subsidised influenza vaccination for schoolchildren. (our translation from the Chinese original)

Chinese original:

「2026/27 年度季節性流感疫苗學校外展計劃將繼續提供噴鼻式減活流感疫苗予所有學校，並允許學校均可於同一或不同的外展活動自由選用注射式滅活和噴鼻式減活流感疫苗。季節性流感疫苗學校外展計劃下設有『政府提供疫苗模式』（前稱『季節性流感疫苗學校外展（免費）計劃』）和『醫生提供疫苗模式』（前稱『疫苗資助學校外展（可額外收費）計劃』）供學校選擇參加，為學童提供免費或／和資助流感疫苗接種。」

Also on the same page:

Some schools still had no seasonal influenza vaccination school outreach session in the 2025/26 year. Parents of children at those schools should take their children as soon as possible to a private doctor's clinic enrolled in the Vaccination Subsidy Scheme for influenza vaccination. (our translation from the Chinese original)

Chinese original:

「2025/26 年度仍有部份學校沒有安排季節性流感疫苗學校外展活動。這些學校的家長應盡快帶子女到參與『疫苗資助計劃』的私家醫生診所接種流感疫苗。」

[Note 36] Government press release, 2026-04-01:

The Scientific Committee recommends that the groups given priority for seasonal influenza vaccination in the 二○二六／二七 flu season be the same as in the previous year (二○二五／二六), covering healthcare workers, people aged 50 or above, pregnant women, people living in residential care homes, people with chronic health problems, children and adolescents aged six months to under 18, poultry workers, and people in the pig-raising and pig-slaughtering industries. (our translation from the Chinese original)

Chinese original:

「科學委員會建議在二○二六／二七年度流感季節，優先接種季節性流感疫苗的群組與上一個年度（二○二五／二六年）相同，涵蓋醫護人員、50歲或以上人士、孕婦、居於護理院舍的人士、有長期健康問題的人士、年齡介乎六個月至未滿18歲的兒童及青少年、家禽業從業員，以及從事養豬及屠宰豬隻行業的人士。」

[Note 37] Government press release, 2026-07-16:

The government is actively preparing the 二○二六／二七 Seasonal Influenza Vaccination Programme, including vaccine procurement and publicity. Detailed arrangements, including the eligible groups and vaccination venues, will be announced in due course. (our translation from the Chinese original)

Chinese original:

「政府正積極進行二○二六／二七年度季節性流感疫苗接種計劃的籌備工作，包括疫苗採購和宣傳等。詳細安排包括合資格群組、接種疫苗地點等將適時公布。」

[Note 38] Government press release, 2025-09-08 (the 2025/26 year): 「科學委員會建議可使用各種在本地註冊的三價和四價季節性流感疫苗，包括注射式滅活流感疫苗、噴鼻式減活流感疫苗和注射式重組流感疫苗」 — the Scientific Committee recommends that any locally registered trivalent and quadrivalent seasonal influenza vaccine may be used, including injectable inactivated, nasal spray live attenuated and injectable recombinant influenza vaccine (our translation from the Chinese original). Government press release, 2026-04-01 (the 2026/27 year): 「科學委員會建議二○二六／二七年度流感季節可使用各種在本地註冊的三價季節性流感疫苗，包括滅活流感疫苗、減活噴鼻式流感疫苗和重組流感疫苗」 — for the 二○二六／二七 flu season the Scientific Committee recommends that any locally registered trivalent seasonal influenza vaccine may be used, including inactivated, nasal spray live attenuated and recombinant influenza vaccine (our translation from the Chinese original).

[Note 39] The FAQ page: 「根據世界衞生組織（WHO）的監測數據，B/Yamagata 譜系病毒目前已在人群中停止傳播」 — according to the World Health Organization's surveillance data, B/Yamagata lineage viruses have now stopped circulating among humans (our translation from the Chinese original).

[Note 40] The FAQ page, question 34, first paragraph:

During a flu season, if the vaccine's antigens match the circulating virus types, influenza vaccine can reduce the risk of influenza illness in the overall population by 40% to 60%. (our translation from the Chinese original)

Chinese original:

「在流感季節，如疫苗的抗原與流行的病毒類型吻合，流感疫苗可減低整體人口的患流感疾病風險達 40% 至 60%。」

[Note 41] The second paragraph of the same question and answer:

Inactivated influenza vaccine provides moderate protection against influenza illness in elderly people. Existing research data suggest that recombinant influenza vaccine may be more effective than standard-dose inactivated influenza vaccine in that age group. As for live attenuated influenza vaccine, overseas research and clinical experience generally show that nasal spray live attenuated influenza vaccine is safe and that the protection it offers is comparable to that of inactivated influenza vaccine. (our translation from the Chinese original)

Chinese original:

「滅活流感疫苗對長者預防流感疾病提供適中的保護力。現有的研究數據顯示，重組流感疫苗可能比標準劑量的滅活流感疫苗對這年齡群更有效。至於減活流感疫苗，海外硏究及臨床經驗普遍顯示噴鼻式減活流感疫苗是安全的，其能提供的保護力與滅活流感疫苗相若。」

[Note 42] The FAQ page:

Where supply allows, elderly people living in residential care homes should first choose recombinant influenza vaccine, which may give elderly people better protection. (our translation from the Chinese original)

Chinese original:

「若能獲得供應，居於院舍的長者應優先選擇接種或能為長者提供較佳保護的重組流感疫苗。」

[Note 43] The FAQ page:

First, because the body takes about two weeks after vaccination to produce antibodies, a person infected by influenza virus shortly after vaccination will still fall ill for want of sufficient antibodies. Second, other respiratory virus infections can also cause influenza-like symptoms, leading patients to think they have influenza. Third, a small number of people develop side effects such as fever or muscle pain after inactivated influenza vaccination, leading the person vaccinated to think they have influenza. Lastly, influenza vaccine does not give complete protection, because vaccine effectiveness is affected by several factors, including how well the vaccine strains match the circulating strains, and the vaccinated person's own factors such as age. (our translation from the Chinese original)

Chinese original:

「第一，由於接種疫苗後身體約需兩星期產生抗體，所以如在接種後不久受流感病毒感染，該人士仍會因身體未有足夠抗體而生病。第二，其他呼吸道病毒感染亦可引致類似流感的病徵，使患者誤以為自己感染流感。第三，小部分人士在接種滅活流感疫苗後會出現副作用，例如發燒或肌肉疼痛，令接受疫苗接種者誤以為自己患上流感。最後，流感疫苗不能提供完全的保護作用，因為疫苗效能受多項因素影響，包括疫苗病毒株與流行病毒株的匹配程度，和接受疫苗接種者本身的個人因素（例如年齡）。」

[Note 44] Government press release, 2026-04-01, the Controller of the Centre for Health Protection, Dr Edwin Tsui:

The Centre carried out an in-depth analysis of the relationship between influenza-related severe cases during the summer 2025 flu season and influenza vaccination. The data show that the rate of severe complications or death after influenza infection among children who had not received the 二○二五／二六 influenza vaccine was about five times that of vaccinated children; and that the rate of severe influenza among residential care home residents aged 65 or above who had not received the 二○二五／二六 influenza vaccine was about four times that of vaccinated residents. (our translation from the Chinese original)

Chinese original:

「中心就二○二五年夏季流感季節期間流感相關的重症與接種流感疫苗的關係作深入分析，數據顯示，未接種二○二五／二六年度流感疫苗的兒童在感染流感後出現嚴重併發症或死亡的比率，是已接種疫苗兒童的約五倍；而 65 歲或以上未接種二○二五／二六年度流感疫苗的護理院舍院友，出現流感重症的比率則是已接種疫苗院友的約四倍。」

[Note 45] The FAQ page:

Children aged 6 months to under 9 who have never received seasonal influenza vaccine (influenza vaccine) are recommended to receive two doses of influenza vaccine this season, the two doses being at least 28 days apart. Children under 9 who have previously received any seasonal influenza vaccine need only one dose of seasonal influenza vaccine this season. Anyone aged 9 or above needs only one dose of seasonal influenza vaccine a year. (our translation from the Chinese original)

Chinese original:

「凡 6 個月至 9 歲以下從未接種過季節性流感疫苗（流感疫苗）的兒童，建議在本季度應接種兩劑流感疫苗，而兩劑疫苗的接種時間至少相隔 28 天。過去曾接種過任何季節性流感疫苗的 9 歲以下兒童，在本季度只須接種一劑季節性流感疫苗。凡 9 歲或以上人士只須每年接種一劑季節性流感疫苗。」

The two doses 「並不需要屬相同種類」 — need not be of the same kind (our translation from the Chinese original).

[Note 46] The FAQ page, on the three vaccines:

Inactivated influenza vaccine is for people over 6 months (some brands for people aged 3 or above); recombinant influenza vaccine is for people aged 18 or above; nasal spray live attenuated influenza vaccine is recommended only for non-pregnant, non-immunocompromised people aged 2 to 49. (our translation from the Chinese original)

Chinese original:

「適用於 6 個月以上的人士（某些品牌適用於 3 歲或以上的人士）」 「適用於 18 歲或以上的人士」 「只建議供 2 歲至 49 歲的非懷孕及非免疫力低的人士使用」

[Note 47] The FAQ page: 「減活流感疫苗含有已弱化的病毒，參考美國、英國和加拿大的建議，有下列任何情況的人士均不宜接種減活流感疫苗：」 — live attenuated influenza vaccine contains weakened virus, and by reference to recommendations from the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada, people in any of the following situations should not receive it (our translation from the Chinese original) — followed by seven items:

A severe allergic reaction to any component of a vaccine or after any influenza vaccination; children and adolescents taking aspirin or salicylate-containing medication; children aged two to four with asthma or who have had wheezing in the past 12 months; children and adults with weakened immune function for any reason; close contacts and carers of people whose immune system is severely suppressed and who require care in a protected environment; pregnancy; and having taken influenza antiviral medication in the past 48 hours. (our translation from the Chinese original)

Chinese original:

「對任何疫苗成分或接種任何流感疫苗後曾出現嚴重過敏反應；」 「正服用阿士匹靈或含水楊酸鹽藥物的兒童和青少年；」 「患有哮喘或在過去12個月內曾患上喘鳴的兩歲至四歲兒童；」 「因任何原因導致免疫功能減弱的兒童及成人；」 「免疫系統嚴重受抑制而需在受保護的環境下接受護理的人士之緊密接觸者和照顧者；」 「懷孕；及」 「在過去 48 小時曾服用流感抗病毒藥物。」

[Note 48] The same page, the note to the third item:

The United Kingdom recommends that children with a history of wheezing in the past 72 hours, or with increased use of a bronchodilator in the past 72 hours, should receive inactivated rather than live attenuated influenza vaccine. In addition, children requiring oral steroids to control asthma, or who have required intensive care for an asthma attack, should seek a specialist's advice before receiving live attenuated influenza vaccine. Canada recommends that people with severe asthma (currently taking oral or high-dose inhaled steroids, or with wheezing) or with wheezing in the 7 days before vaccination should not use live attenuated influenza vaccine. (our translation from the Chinese original)

Chinese original:

「英國建議在過去72小時內有喘鳴病史或在過去72小時內增加使用支氣管擴張劑的兒童應接種滅活流感疫苗而非減活流感疫苗。另外，須要口服類固醇作為控制哮喘治療或曾經因哮喘發作而須要接受深切治療的兒童在接種減活流感疫苗前應尋求專科醫生意見。加拿大建議患有嚴重哮喘（正使用口服或高劑量吸入式類固醇或有喘鳴）或在疫苗接種前7天內患有喘鳴的人士不應使用減活流感疫苗。」

[Note 49] The FAQ page:

Because children with lung disease such as asthma are at higher risk of complications when they catch influenza, they should receive inactivated influenza vaccine. Children aged two to four with asthma or who have had wheezing in the past 12 months should not receive live attenuated influenza vaccine (our translation from the Chinese original)

Chinese original:

「由於患有肺部疾病如哮喘的兒童在感染流感時出現併發症的風險較高，所以應該接種滅活流感疫苗。而患有哮喘或在過去12個月內曾患上喘鳴的兩歲至四歲兒童則不應接種減活流感疫苗」

followed immediately by:

(for details see question 22) (our translation from the Chinese original)

Chinese original:

「（詳情可參考問答22）」

[Note 50] The FAQ page, question 20, "who should not receive inactivated influenza vaccine?", in full:

People who have had a severe allergic reaction to any component of a vaccine or after any influenza vaccination should not receive inactivated influenza vaccine. People with a mild allergy to egg who wish to receive influenza vaccine may receive inactivated influenza vaccine at a primary care setting and be observed for 30 minutes after vaccination. People who have had a severe allergic reaction to egg should be vaccinated by healthcare professionals in an appropriate medical setting able to recognise and manage severe allergic reactions. Influenza vaccine does contain ovalbumin (egg protein), but repeated purification during manufacture leaves the ovalbumin content extremely low, so even people allergic to egg can generally be vaccinated safely. People with bleeding disorders or taking anticoagulants should consult a doctor. Anyone with a fever on the day of vaccination may postpone vaccination until they have recovered. For details, ask a doctor. (our translation from the Chinese original)

Chinese original:

「對任何疫苗成分或接種任何流感疫苗後曾出現嚴重過敏反應的人士，都不宜接種滅活流感疫苗。對雞蛋有輕度過敏的人士如欲接種流感疫苗，可於基層醫療場所接種滅活流感疫苗，並於接種後接受30分鐘的觀察。而曾對雞蛋有嚴重過敏反應的人士，應由專業醫護人員在能識別及處理嚴重敏感反應的適當醫療場所內接種。流感疫苗內雖含有卵清蛋白（即雞蛋白質），但疫苗製造過程經過反覆純化，卵清蛋白的含量極低，即使對雞蛋敏感的人士，在一般情況下亦能安全接種。出血病症患者或服用抗凝血劑的人士，應請教醫生。如接種當日發燒，可延遲至病癒後才接種疫苗。詳情請向醫生查詢。」

Question 38, "can people with a history of egg allergy receive seasonal influenza vaccine?":

Seasonal influenza vaccine contains ovalbumin (egg protein), but repeated purification during manufacture leaves the ovalbumin content extremely low, so even people allergic to egg can generally be vaccinated safely. People with a mild allergic reaction to egg may be vaccinated at a primary care setting and be observed for 30 minutes after vaccination. People who have had a severe allergic reaction to egg should be vaccinated by healthcare professionals in an appropriate medical setting able to recognise and manage severe allergic reactions. (our translation from the Chinese original)

Chinese original:

「季節性流感疫苗含有卵清蛋白（即雞蛋白質），但疫苗製造過程經過反覆純化，卵清蛋白的含量極低，即使對雞蛋敏感的人士，在一般情況下亦能安全接種。對雞蛋有輕微過敏反應的人士可在基層醫療場所接種疫苗，並於接種後接受30分鐘的觀察。而曾對雞蛋有嚴重過敏反應的人士，應由專業醫護人員在能識別及處理嚴重敏感反應的適當醫療場所內接種。」

Question 22 repeats the same arrangement for nasal spray live attenuated vaccine, changing only the kind of vaccine to live attenuated influenza vaccine.

[Note 51] The FAQ page, on recombinant vaccine:

Recombinant influenza vaccine is for people aged 18 or above. People who have had an allergic reaction to any component of recombinant influenza vaccine should not receive it. Recombinant influenza vaccine does not contain egg protein. People with bleeding disorders or taking anticoagulants should consult a doctor. Anyone with a fever on the day of vaccination may postpone vaccination until they have recovered. For details, ask a doctor. (our translation from the Chinese original)

Chinese original:

「重組流感疫苗適用於18歲或以上的人士使用。對任何重組流感疫苗成分曾出現過敏反應的人士，都不宜接種重組流感疫苗。重組流感疫苗不含雞蛋白質。出血病症患者或服用抗凝血劑的人士，應請教醫生。如接種當日發燒，可延遲至病癒後才接種疫苗。詳情請向醫生查詢。」

[Note 52] The FAQ page:

Overseas studies estimate the risk of Guillain-Barré syndrome after influenza vaccination at about one to two cases in every 一百萬 vaccine recipients. Among people who received seasonal influenza vaccine in the 2024-25 season, one case of Guillain-Barré syndrome was recorded in Hong Kong (occurring between five days and six weeks after seasonal influenza vaccination, as at 17 March 2025). Between 2020 and 2024, admissions to public hospitals in Hong Kong for Guillain-Barré syndrome from all causes numbered 33 to 88 a year. (our translation from the Chinese original)

Chinese original:

「海外研究估計，接種流感疫苗後出現吉-巴氏綜合症的風險約為每一百萬名疫苗接種者中有一至兩宗個案。在 2024-25 季度接種季節性流感疫苗的人士中，本港錄得一宗吉-巴氏綜合症病例（截至 2025 年 3 月 17 日於接種季節性流感疫苗後五天至六周期間出現）。在 2020 年至 2024 年期間，本港每年因各種原因患上吉-巴氏綜合症而入住公立醫院的病例為 33 至 88 宗。」

[Note 53] Government press release, 2026-07-02:

People at high risk should wear a surgical mask when visiting public places, and members of the public should also wear a surgical mask when using public transport or staying in crowded places. People with symptoms of a respiratory infection should, however mild the symptoms, wear a surgical mask, not go to work or school, and seek medical attention early, so as to reduce the risk of transmission. (our translation from the Chinese original)

Chinese original:

「高危人士到訪公眾地方時應佩戴外科口罩，而市民在乘搭交通工具或在人多擠迫的地方逗留時亦應佩戴外科口罩。出現呼吸道感染病徵的人士，即使症狀輕微亦應佩戴外科口罩，不應上班或上學，及盡早向醫生求診，以減低傳播風險。」

Government press release, 2026-07-16:

Members of the public with symptoms of a respiratory infection should, however mild the symptoms, wear a surgical mask, avoid going to crowded places and seek medical attention early; and if they live with people at high risk or with weaker immunity, they should also wear a mask at home, so as to reduce the risk of cross-infection. (our translation from the Chinese original)

Chinese original:

「出現呼吸道感染病徵的市民，即使症狀輕微，都應佩戴外科口罩，避免前往人多擠逼的地方，並應盡早求醫，若與高危或免疫力較弱的人士同住，在家亦應佩戴口罩，以減低交叉感染的風險。」

[Note 54] The FAQ page, at questions 24, 25 and 26, once each and three times in all:

Side effects are usually mild and short-lived. If fever persists after vaccination, or a severe allergic reaction occurs (difficulty breathing, swelling of the mouth or tongue, hives, for example), or there is any other adverse reaction, consult a doctor immediately. (our translation from the Chinese original)

Chinese original:

「副作用通常是輕微且短暫的。若接種疫苗後持續發燒、出現嚴重過敏反應（例如：呼吸困難、口舌腫脹、風疹塊等）或其他不良反應，請立即諮詢醫生。」

[Note 55] The week 30 report:

Because seasonal influenza vaccine is safe and effective, everyone aged 6 months or above other than those with known contraindications should receive influenza vaccination to prevent influenza infection and its complications and to reduce the associated risk of hospitalisation and death. (our translation from the Chinese original)

Chinese original:

「基於季節性流感疫苗安全有效，除有已知禁忌症的人士外，所有年滿 6 個月或以上人士均應接種流感疫苗以預防感染流感及其併發症，並減低相關入院和死亡風險。」

#Matters on which this article makes no statement

• "Warning signs such as difficulty breathing, persistent high fever, confusion or dehydration mean seeking medical attention at once" — removed. The week 30 2019 Coronavirus Disease & Flu Express (Chinese and English versions), the government press releases of 2 July and 16 July 2026 (Chinese and English versions), the Centre for Health Protection's "seasonal influenza vaccine" page, its "seasonal influenza" page and its "frequently asked questions on seasonal influenza vaccination in Hong Kong for the 2025-26 season" page all carry no list of warning signs as regards influenza illness. This article instead quotes the Centre's own threshold (anyone with symptoms of a respiratory infection should seek medical attention early), and compiles no warning-sign list of its own. The scope has to be stated clearly: those sources are by no means devoid of any indication for seeking care; they simply carry no warning-sign list for influenza illness. Among the same sources, the "frequently asked questions on seasonal influenza vaccination in Hong Kong for the 2025-26 season" page carries at questions 24, 25 and 26, once each and three times in all: "if fever persists after vaccination, or a severe allergic reaction occurs (difficulty breathing, swelling of the mouth or tongue, hives, for example), or there is any other adverse reaction, consult a doctor immediately." The scope of that sentence is adverse reactions after vaccination, not influenza illness, and this article reproduces it in the body within its original scope. "Persistent high fever", "confusion" and "dehydration" appear nowhere in the Chinese or English versions of any of the above sources.
• The date on which the World Health Organization published its recommended composition for northern hemisphere influenza vaccines for 二○二六／二七 — not given. The government press release of 1 April 2026 cited here says only that the strain composition used in that year's influenza vaccines "should accord with the composition the WHO recommends for the 二○二六／二七 northern hemisphere influenza season", and gives no WHO publication date or document link; this article therefore states only that the two accord, and gives no WHO publication date.
• The name of this flu season. The Centre for Health Protection's cross-season comparison series calls past seasons "the summer 2023 season, the 2023/24 season, the winter 2024/25 season and the summer 2025 season", but calls this one only "this season" throughout. This article therefore writes "the summer 2026 flu season" only as a description, not as an official name.
• The subsidy amount, launch date and eligible subsidised groups of the 2026/27 Vaccination Subsidy Scheme. None appears on the four relevant Centre for Health Protection pages cited here, nor in any government press release between 1 July and 3 August 2026. The government's press release of 16 July 2026 states expressly that "detailed arrangements, including the eligible groups and vaccination venues, will be announced in due course". This article does not substitute the 2025/26 figures. The scope has to be stated clearly: the priority groups for 2026/27 are not unpublished — the press release of 1 April 2026 sets them out and states that they are the same as for 2025/26, and this article reproduces them in the body. Priority groups are the order of vaccination recommended by the Scientific Committee, and are not the same list as the eligible groups that decide entitlement to free or subsidised vaccination; this article does not substitute the former for the latter.
• Any cap or typical amount for the co-payment under the Vaccination Subsidy Scheme. Neither of the two Centre for Health Protection pages nor either press release cited here carries one; what the authorities provide is a doctor search tool, not an amount. This article supplies no value for it, and cites no second-hand market price.
• Any causal relationship between this season's figures and vaccination rates. This article only sets two sets of official figures side by side and explains the reasoning; it makes no causal statement. The Department of Health's own wording in comparable statements is "we believe it is attributable to".
• Hong Kong's overall influenza vaccination rate. The percentages the Centre for Health Protection publishes expressly exclude "data on vaccination through other channels", and the Scientific Committee states that the government "cannot fully capture data on people paying for influenza vaccination themselves in the private market". This article therefore calls them figures for vaccination under government programmes, does not treat them as Hong Kong's vaccination rate, and makes no estimate of the size of the private market.
• Any multiple of vaccine effectiveness for adults overall. The two multiples in the press release of 1 April 2026 are limited in scope to children (about five times) and to residential care home residents aged 65 or above (about four times), both from an analysis of the summer 2025 flu season. This article cites them within their original scope and does not extend them to adults generally.
• How "low intensity level" is calculated. The report notes that it is calculated by the Moving Epidemic Method (MEM) and refers to a separate explanatory document; this article cites only the report's classification conclusion and does not explain the formula.
• The list of schools that did not join the 2025/26 School Outreach Programme. The Centre for Health Protection's "Seasonal Influenza Vaccination School Outreach Programme" page carries a link to that list; this article does not reproduce its contents.
• Antiviral medication, treatment plans and whether an individual patient needs admission. These are clinical judgements, on which this article makes no statement.

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State of the data: the surveillance figures change weekly. The surveillance data cited here are from *2019 Coronavirus Disease & Flu Express*, volume 4, number 30 (published 30 July 2026, reporting period 19 to 25 July 2026, data as at 29 July 2026); the series is published weekly, and when reading please check against the latest issue through the links below. Vaccination programme information follows the self-dating on each official page. This article is health information and is not medical advice.

#Sources

• Hong Kong entering a flu season, week 26 (21 to 27 June) positive rate 6.69% and admission rate 0.38 per myriad, the baselines of 4.94% and 0.27, summer seasons generally being from July to August, last September's season running until early January this year, the first-quarter season not appearing this year, the advice that anyone with symptoms of a respiratory infection should however mild wear a mask, stay away from work or school and seek medical attention early, and the slight rise in respiratory syncytial virus activity with its 2.59% against past peaks of 8% to 10%: Government press release, "Hong Kong enters flu season; Department of Health appeals to the public to maintain good personal and environmental hygiene at all times", 2026-07-02, https://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/202607/02/P2026070200672.htm; English version https://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/202607/02/P2026070200749.htm (retrieved: 3 August 2026).
• Hong Kong having entered the flu season at the end of June, that release's "last week" positive rate of 8.75% and admission rate of 0.55 per myriad, COVID activity reaching a one-year high, the 2026/27 programme being in preparation with detailed arrangements including eligible groups to be announced in due course, and wearing a mask at home when living with people at high risk or with weaker immunity: Government press release, "COVID and influenza activity continue to climb; Department of Health appeals to the public to maintain personal and environmental hygiene", 2026-07-16, https://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/202607/16/P2026071600621.htm; English version https://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/202607/16/P2026071600667.htm (retrieved: 3 August 2026).
• Hong Kong currently being in a flu season, the week 30 surveillance indicators, how the baseline levels are calculated and reviewed each year, the low intensity level and MEM, the footnote on the two laboratories behind the 11,424 specimens, the note on vaccine virus strains, the typing percentages, admission rates by age, 44 adult severe cases and 26 in the first four days of week 31, this season's cumulative 169 cases and 94 deaths, the 143 cases and 80 deaths on the basis of five whole weeks against the four past seasons, the paediatric comparison of 4 and 3 across seasons, the 173 cases across all ages and the breakdown by age, the 87% with a chronic disease, the 1.8% in-admission death rate, the surveillance definition of a severe case, the 159 and 145 outbreaks, the explanation of the sewage unit, the launch dates of the 2025/26 programmes, and that everyone aged 6 months or above should be vaccinated: Centre for Health Protection, 2019 Coronavirus Disease & Flu Express, volume 4, number 30, published 2026-07-30, https://www.chp.gov.hk/files/pdf/covid_flux_week30_30_7_2026_chi.pdf; English version https://www.chp.gov.hk/files/pdf/covid_flux_week30_30_7_2026_eng.pdf (retrieved: 3 August 2026). Publication index: https://www.chp.gov.hk/tc/resources/29/100148.html.
• The 2025/26 Vaccination Subsidy Scheme launching on 22 September 2025, the subsidy of 260 dollars a dose of seasonal influenza vaccine, 400 dollars for the twenty-three-valent vaccine and 800 dollars for the fifteen-valent vaccine, and doctors possibly charging an additional fee after the subsidy is deducted: Centre for Health Protection, "Vaccination Subsidy Scheme – doctors 2025/26", page self-dated 2 July 2026, https://www.chp.gov.hk/tc/features/45849.html; English version https://www.chp.gov.hk/en/features/45849.html (retrieved: 3 August 2026).
• The table of eligible persons and service providers, note one (doctors may charge an additional fee; the doctor search tool), note two (all schoolchildren whether or not they hold Hong Kong resident status), and note three (the four limbs defining chronic illness, including hypertension without complications being excluded and a body mass index of 30 or above): Centre for Health Protection, "Seasonal influenza vaccine", page self-dated 8 September 2025, https://www.chp.gov.hk/tc/features/107880.html; English version https://www.chp.gov.hk/en/features/107880.html (retrieved: 3 August 2026).
• The definition of influenza, the common virus types, the first month to the third month or April and the seventh month to August, the symptoms and complications, severe infection being possible in healthy people, the priority groups and the note on their chronic health problems (including children or adolescents on long-term aspirin), the 40% to 60% vaccine effectiveness in the first paragraph of question 34 (citing the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) and the "moderate" protection for elderly people and possible greater effectiveness of recombinant vaccine in the second, the full contraindication passages at questions 20 and 22 together with the egg-allergy triage of vaccination setting, question 38 on a history of egg allergy, the sentence at questions 24 to 26 that persistent fever or a severe allergic reaction after vaccination means consulting a doctor immediately (three places), elderly people in residential care homes choosing recombinant vaccine first, the body taking about two weeks after vaccination to produce antibodies, two doses 28 days apart for children under 9 receiving it for the first time, the age ranges of the three vaccines, the contraindications to live attenuated, inactivated and recombinant vaccine, children with asthma receiving inactivated vaccine, the Guillain-Barré syndrome risk and the local figures, why 50 to 64 is a priority group, the four reasons for catching influenza despite vaccination, and the requirement that anyone 18 or above register with eHealth together with "quick eHealth registration": Centre for Health Protection, "Frequently asked questions on seasonal influenza vaccination in Hong Kong for the 2025-26 season", page self-dated 8 September 2025, https://www.chp.gov.hk/tc/features/100764.html (retrieved: 3 August 2026).
• The five new initiatives of the 2025/26 programme (people aged 18 to 49 with a chronic illness regardless of financial circumstances, schools being able to choose nasal spray and mixed modes, about 2 300 schools (99%) taking part, recombinant vaccine for elderly people in residential care homes, 100 000 doses of injectable inactivated vaccine with doctors not permitted to charge any additional fee, and an enhanced doctor search site), the eHealth requirement for people aged 18 or above, about 2.09 million doses given in 2024/25, over 1 500 doctors having applied to take part, trivalent and quadrivalent vaccines being recommended for 2025/26, the body producing enough antibodies two weeks after vaccination, and the number of vaccination venues: Government press release, "Influenza vaccination programmes to start at the end of the month; five new initiatives to encourage and facilitate vaccination (with photos and video)", 2025-09-08, https://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/202509/08/P2025090800485.htm; English version https://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/202509/08/P2025090800487.htm (retrieved: 3 August 2026).
• The seven-row list of eligible groups for 2025/26 (including residents of residential care homes, healthcare workers, and poultry workers and people in the pig-raising and pig-slaughtering industries): annex to the government press release of 2025-09-08, 〈2025/26 季節性流感疫苗接種計劃合資格群組和疫苗接種地點〉, English version Annex "Overview of eligibility and vaccination venue for 2025/26 Seasonal Influenza Vaccination Programmes", https://gia.info.gov.hk/general/202509/08/P2025090800485_509697_1_1757330169349.pdf; English version https://gia.info.gov.hk/general/202509/08/P2025090800487_509698_1_1757330204859.pdf (retrieved: 3 August 2026; the two versions have the same number of rows and the same groups).
• The other three eligible groups (residents of residential care homes for the elderly or for people with disabilities, healthcare workers, and poultry workers and people in the pig-raising and pig-slaughtering industries) and the requirement that anyone aged 18 or above being vaccinated must have registered with eHealth: Centre for Health Protection, "Other groups eligible for seasonal influenza vaccination", page self-dated 8 September 2025, https://www.chp.gov.hk/tc/features/108125.html; English version https://www.chp.gov.hk/en/features/108125.html (retrieved: 3 August 2026). That page is reached from the "click here for details" line below the notes on the "seasonal influenza vaccine" page.
• The Vaccination Subsidy Scheme being brought forward to 22 September 2025, public vaccination venues starting on 25 September, over 1 700 doctors having applied to take part, the subsidy of 260 dollars a dose, and the doctor information site having been enhanced to allow filtering for doctors offering vaccines with no co-payment: Government press release, "Private doctors taking part in the Seasonal Influenza Vaccination Programme to vaccinate eligible persons free or with a subsidy from 22 September; public vaccination venues to start on 25 September", 2025-09-19, https://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/202509/19/P2025091900534.htm; English version https://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/202509/19/P2025091900791.htm (retrieved: 3 August 2026). That release carries no cap or typical amount for the co-payment.
• The 2026-27 priority groups being the same as the previous year and the complete list of their eight groups, locally registered trivalent vaccines being usable, the strain composition according with the WHO's northern hemisphere recommendation, October to November being the most suitable time for vaccination and the reason for it, the government not being able to fully capture data on self-financed vaccination in the private market, the rate of severe complications or death among unvaccinated children being about five times that of vaccinated children, the rate of severe influenza among unvaccinated residential care home residents aged 65 or above being about four times that of vaccinated residents, and over 2.01 million doses having been given as at 29 March 2026: Government press release, "Scientific Committee on Vaccine Preventable Diseases issues recommendations on seasonal influenza vaccination for 二○二六／二七", 2026-04-01, https://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/202604/01/P2026040100240.htm; English version https://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/202604/01/P2026040100504.htm (retrieved: 3 August 2026).
• The 2026/27 school outreach arrangements, the new and former names of the two modes, and some schools still having no outreach session in 2025/26: Centre for Health Protection, "Seasonal Influenza Vaccination School Outreach Programme", page self-dated 28 July 2026, https://www.chp.gov.hk/tc/features/100634.html; English version https://www.chp.gov.hk/en/features/100634.html (retrieved: 3 August 2026). The list of participating doctors is arranged by four regions: "List of doctors participating in the 2026/27 Seasonal Influenza Vaccination School Outreach Programme", page self-dated 27 July 2026, https://www.chp.gov.hk/tc/features/101413.html (retrieved: 3 August 2026).
• The numbers and percentages vaccinated against seasonal influenza under government programmes (2023/24, 2024/25 and 2025/26 as at 26 July 2026), the statistics excluding data on vaccination through other channels, and notes a and b: Centre for Health Protection, "Statistics on vaccination programmes in the past three years", page self-dated 26 July 2026, https://www.chp.gov.hk/tc/features/102226.html; English version https://www.chp.gov.hk/en/features/102226.html (retrieved: 3 August 2026).
• The division of the four vaccination programmes, the page's latest news still carrying the 2025-26 year, and the Vaccination Subsidy Scheme link returning a 404: Centre for Health Protection, "Vaccination programmes", page self-dated 11 December 2025, https://www.chp.gov.hk/tc/features/17980.html; "2025/26 Government Vaccination Programme", page self-dated 19 September 2025, https://www.chp.gov.hk/tc/features/18630.html; "Residential Care Home Vaccination Programme", page self-dated 25 September 2025, https://www.chp.gov.hk/tc/features/21657.html (retrieved: 3 August 2026).
• Seasonal influenza generally circulating more from the first to the third month or April, and in the seventh month and August, and the difference between seasonal influenza, avian influenza and an influenza pandemic: Centre for Health Protection, "Seasonal influenza", page self-dated 25 February 2025, https://www.chp.gov.hk/tc/features/14843.html (retrieved: 3 August 2026).
• The search tool for doctors enrolled in the Vaccination Subsidy Scheme (which can be searched by whether vaccines with no co-payment are offered): Department of Health, https://apps.hcv.gov.hk/public/tc/SPS/Search (retrieved: 3 August 2026).

#Further reading

• On this platform: Private doctors' fees explained

This article was compiled by the editorial team from official sources, with every clinical statement attributed; it is health information and is not medical advice.