As the threat of A/H1N1 flu increases, the government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, or SAR, has decided to offer free vaccines to two million local residents. In the Macao SAR, the local authority has established a multi-department emergency and coordination center to prevent the spread of A/H1N1.

The Hong Kong SAR government is offering millions of doses of vaccines free to 4 categories of residents. The plan is expected to cost about 700 million Hong Kong dollars.

The residents concerned are... medical staff working in both public and private hospitals, children aged between 6 months and 6 years, people over 65 years old... as well as residents with chronic diseases.

Each resident requires an average of 2 doses of the vaccine, so the authorities plan to order 4 million doses. And an additional 1-million doses will be sold to residents.

Meanwhile, Macao's multi-department emergency and coordination center is headed by the SAR's Chief Executive, Edmund Ho Hau Wah. The center is dedicated to handling all the prevention and control measures concerning A/H1N1 flu. To date, there have not been any reported cases of A/H1N1 infection in Macao.

(CCTV June 12, 2009)