School flu-shot consent forms go electronic

Starting this Monday, parents can now electronically submit consent forms through the eHealth mobile app for their children's seasonal flu vaccinations at participating schools, according to the Centre for Health Protection (CHP). The government's Seasonal Influenza Vaccination School Outreach Programme, launched several years ago, aims to boost vaccination rates among students and simplify on-site immunisation services for schools.

This year, the programme will continue to offer both traditional injectable flu shots and nasal spray vaccines, giving schools the option to use either supply model or a hybrid approach allowing students to choose.

Parents can now use the eHealth app to scan a dedicated QR code provided by their children's schools, eliminating the need for paper consent forms. The CHP began distributing the QR codes to participating schools on Wednesday. Leung Yiu-hong, head of the emergency response and programme management branch, explained the advantages of the electronic consent system, including the convenience of accessing vaccination records, minimizing human errors, and enabling schools to collect consent lists earlier for more timely outreach activities.

To facilitate a smooth transition, Leung added that a dual-mode arrangement will be in place for the upcoming school year, providing schools and parents with ample time to adapt to the new digital system. "We strongly urge the parents and schools to adopt this new measure, so as to reduce the administrative workload for both the schools as well as the healthcare service providers, and the parents of children can also easily fill in the form in just a few minutes," he said.

For those unable to use the electronic means, Leung assured that paper forms will still be available for submission. As of December 2025, over 2,300 schools – representing 99 percent of all schools – had organized seasonal influenza vaccination outreach activities, a significant increase from the 91 percent recorded in the previous school year.