Coronavirus: Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine first to seek roll-out approval in Hong Kong

Name: Brazil study shows China’s Sinovac vaccine less effective than earlier data on the Covid-19 shots
Uploaded: 2021-01-13T23:00:29.000Z
Duration: 2 min 29 s
Description: Brazil study shows China’s Sinovac vaccine less effective than earlier data on the Covid-19 shots

Government panel is expected to decide as early as Monday whether to recommend the US-German jab

Experts also say they will not jump to any conclusion on reports that the Sinovac vaccine is far less effective than previously suggested

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A decision on the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine could come as early as next week. Photo: Bloomberg

Elizabeth Cheung

Published: 7:00am, 14 Jan 2021Updated: 10:22am, 14 Jan 2021

The Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine developed by the US and Germany has become the first to apply for an emergency roll-out in Hong Kong and a government advisory panel is expected to decide as early as Monday whether to recommend its use amid confusion over the efficacy of the jab from China’s Sinovac.

In an interview with the Post, experts on the panel would not jump to any conclusion on reports from Brazilian clinical trials that CoronaVac, developed by Sinovac, was just over 50 per cent effective – far less than previously suggested – citing a lack of comprehensive data.

But the panel pledged to be transparent on decisions regarding vaccine applications and all evaluation reports would be made public.

Hong Kong aims to roll out the inoculation programme after the Lunar New Year holiday in mid-February and high-risk groups such as the elderly and health care workers will be given priority for vaccination.

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Brazil study shows China’s Sinovac vaccine less effective than earlier data on the Covid-19 shots

“The application [for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine] was submitted in early January. The other two haven’t submitted applications yet,” Professor Wallace Lau Chak-sing, convenor of the Advisory Panel on Covid-19 Vaccines, said on Wednesday. “If the safety level is higher than the risks … we will advise the health minister, who will decide whether to use the vaccine.”