Coronavirus: Hong Kong panel recommends Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for use, but seeks more information over Norway deaths
- Unanimous backing from experts will go before health secretary for final decision, paving way for mass inoculation drive from mid-February
- Panel chairman says Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine’s benefits outweigh risks, but adds it will request more information from Norway on deaths there
The panel of experts meeting on Monday took three hours to give their unanimous backing to the vaccine developed by the American pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and German company BioNTech, paving the way for the jabs scheme after Lunar New Year. The recommendation will now go before the health secretary for a final decision.
The 12-member Advisory Panel on Covid-19 Vaccines pored over thousands of pages of trial data and other material to offer their verdict on the efficacy and safety of the jab.
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Its convenor, Professor Wallace Lau Chak-sing, said the panel decided to recommend use of the vaccine after concluding the benefits outweighed the risks, considering all the information provided.
“After discussing it thoroughly at the meeting, all 12 members of the panel have decided to recommend the approval of the use of the vaccine,” Lau told a press conference.
Phase three trials showed the vaccine achieved an efficacy rate of about 95 per cent for recipients over the age of 16, but recent reports of serious side effects had raised concerns.