Jabs are crucial as HK drops pandemic rules: experts
Researchers from the University of Hong Kong (HKU) on Tuesday said it's crucial for people to get jabbed, even though the city is dropping all of its anti-Covid restrictions from Wednesday.  They said a research they conducted – based on big-data analysis – found that three jabs of vaccine can reduce the death rate in elderly patients by around 95 percent.  "Vaccination can reduce the mortality, hospitalisation, serious complications, specifically for older people. From our study, we hardly find any serious side effects at all. If you put both things into consideration, the risk is minimal but the benefit is huge," Professor Ian Wong, who led the study, said.   He also noted that it’s important for vaccinated people to take booster shots from time to time to give their immune system a boost.  Meanwhile, Wong said that while the government’s decision to drop the mask mandate is not expected to pose major health risks, people should not let their guard down as Hong Kong is still in the midst of the flu season.  "Based on our study, obviously we already have a herd immunity in Hong Kong due to the vaccination and the Omicron infection itself. [But] we need to also consider the influenza situation. The mask itself may not be the most important bit to protect Covid, but it's certainly very good to protect all other respiratory diseases," he said.