A GROWING number of Shenzhen residents are crossing the border to Hong Kong for flu vaccines which they believe cause fewer side effects, the Guangzhou Daily reported yesterday.
We ve received about 30 percent more Shenzhen residents recently compared to the same period last year, a Hong Kong doctor, identified as Chan, told the paper.
He said Shenzhen residents comprised most of the clients at his private clinic. The number of Shenzhen residents visiting Hong Kong for vaccinations has been rising since the beginning of the month, when the new season of flu vaccinations began in the SAR, he said.
This is in striking contrast to Hong Kong residents who seem reluctant to receive the flu vaccine, he added.
Another physician at a private clinic in Mong Kok, identified as King, said most of his Shenzhen clients came for safety reasons.
The high quality of Hong Kong flu vaccines is the main attraction for Shenzhen residents, he said.
His opinion was shared by many Shenzhen parents taking their children over the border for the vaccines.
The vaccines in Hong Kong are imported, so I believe they re safer, said a woman waiting with her 3-year-old daughter to cross the border at Shatoujiao Checkpoint in Yantian District on Sunday.
The parent, giving her name as Huang, said her daughter s kindergarten was planning to give free flu jabs but she preferred to have her daughter inoculated in Hong Kong. I trust the Hong Kong vaccine and it s cheaper too, she said.
A flu vaccine shot costs HK$180 (US$24) in Hong Kong, notably cheaper than in Shenzhen, where the shots cost about 200 yuan (US$32).
(SD News)
