Hong Kong will begin vaccinating children as young as 3 years old to combat a record surge of infections, authorities said Monday, according to USATODAY.
Hong Kong confirmed a record 2,071 new coronavirus cases Monday, the most in a single day since the pandemic began. That number could more than double Tuesday as another 4,500 people tested preliminary-positive.
The decision came days after the death of a 4-year old who tested positive there. In the U.S., the minimum age for vaccination is 5.
The city’s medical and quarantine capacity has been overloaded, forcing hospitals to reserve isolation wards for children, the elderly, and patients with serious symptoms, the Hong Kong Free Press reported.
Hong Kong has adopted mainland China’s “zero tolerance” approach that requires quarantines, mask mandates, case tracing and lockdowns of buildings, neighborhoods and entire cities when a few cases are detected.