Coronavirus: Hong Kong health experts divided over procuring Pfizer vaccine that showed promising results in preventing infection
- Chinese University expert David Hui says authorities need to consider whether there are enough facilities to store vaccines at minus 70 degrees Celsius
- But William Chui, of the Society of Hospital Pharmacists, says Fosun Pharma has already identified a ‘big’ storage site near city airport
Health experts are divided on whether Hong Kong should procure a seemingly promising Covid-19 vaccine, as the Post learned that a site in the city had been identified for ultra-cold storage of the product.
The site, near Hong Kong International Airport, may resolve a major problem that appeared to be an obstacle to some Asian nations. But a respiratory medicine expert argued there were still other challenges in using the vaccine in Hong Kong.
Hopes to end the Covid-19 pandemic were raised across the globe earlier this week, after American firm Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech announced that their vaccine candidate was more than 90 per cent effective in protecting people from the infection.
Fosun Pharma, a Shanghai-based company which had the exclusive rights for the vaccine in the Greater China region, had signed an agreement with a distributor to potentially supply 10 million doses to Hong Kong and Macau if clinical trial results were approved by regulators, according to the firm’s statement in late August.
Hong Kong has also joined the Covax Facility, an initiative co-led by the World Health Organization to distribute Covid-19 vaccines globally. The Pfizer vaccine is one of those covered by the initiative.