Coronavirus vaccines could be ready for Hong Kong next April, while social-distancing curbs may remain for rest of 2021, government health adviser says
- Chinese University professor David Hui says pragmatic estimate is for the immunisation programme to roll out in second quarter of 2021
- The government health adviser also urges officials to be on high alert for return of imported cases once city’s third wave of Covid-19 recedes
Covid-19 vaccines will be ready for Hong Kong residents next April at the earliest, but social-distancing rules could remain in place for the rest of 2021 until the city develops herd immunity through the immunisation programme, according to a government health adviser.
David Hui Shu-cheong, of Chinese University, also said on Sunday that the Hong Kong administration must remain vigilant to the ongoing threat of imported cases once the third wave of coronavirus infections comes to an end.
“I think we don’t need to set aside a lot of resources for community testing in the future. The most important task for Hong Kong is gatekeeping and preventing the next wave from coming,” he said.
“The first three waves were all caused by imported cases ... We need to be careful in stopping travellers from bringing the virus to the city.”
Hong Kong’s tally of coronavirus infections stands at 4,938, with 100 related deaths, after 13 new cases were recorded on Saturday. About 19 more infections are expected on Sunday, the Post has learned.
Hong Kong has adopted a two-pronged approach to securing vaccines. As well as buying directly from manufacturers, the government has joined the global Covax Facility procurement mechanism managed by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and two other platforms, Gavi and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations.