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Hong Kong fourth wave: free Covid-19 jabs for all residents as city secures 15 million vaccine doses from Sinovac, Pfizer, with first batch arriving in January
- Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam hails procurement deals as ‘groundbreaking’, and pledges that every resident will receive a free jab
- Advance purchase agreements signed with two pharmaceutical giants and another deal with a third is in the works
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Hong Kong has secured 15 million shots of Covid-19 vaccines manufactured in China and Europe, with the first million expected to be available next month for high-risk groups under a free, voluntary vaccination scheme for the city’s population of 7.5 million residents.
Hailing the procurement deals as “groundbreaking”, Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor pledged that every resident would receive a free jab and said the government was prepared to purchase as many as 30 million shots if the vaccines required two doses to be effective.
Advance purchase agreements had been signed with two pharmaceutical giants and another deal with a third was in the works, Lam revealed at an afternoon press conference.
I cannot run a mandatory vaccination programme. I couldn’t even run it for the flu
“We hope to vaccinate the majority of Hong Kong citizens in 2021, so our daily lives and border exchanges can return to normal,” she said.
Lam’s announcement came amid concerns that Hong Kong risked being left behind in the race for vaccines while the city on Friday confirmed 86 new Covid-19 cases amid a fourth wave of infections. Health authorities also toughened border control measures, including requiring all arrivals from outside China to quarantine at one of 36 designated hotels from December 22.
Dedicated coaches will also be used to ferry arrivals to their hotels.
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