Coronavirus: first batch of Sinovac jabs could be delivered to Hong Kong as early as Friday

Aviation industry workers would be among the first groups in line to be vaccinated a week later, according to a source

Number of new coronavirus infections in city bounces back to 16 after two straight days of cases in single digits

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Hong Kong may not yet have beaten the latest phase of the coronavirus crisis. Photo: May Tse

Danny Lee,Victor Ting,Phila Siu,Lilian ChengandGigi Choy

Published: 12:47pm, 17 Feb 2021Updated: 1:14am, 18 Feb 2021

The first batch of Covid-19 vaccines from China’s Sinovac could be delivered to Hong Kong as early as Friday, and the city’s aviation industry workers would be among the first groups in line to be vaccinated a week later, the Post has learned.

The news came as the number of new coronavirus infections bounced back to 16 on Wednesday after two straight days of cases in single digits, with some patients identified as having joined gatherings over the Lunar New Year holiday.

The latest infections, recorded on the sixth day of Lunar New Year, took the city’s overall tally to 10,812, with 197 deaths, including two more patients.

Ten of the 12 new locally transmitted cases were from unknown sources. The four other infections were imported from Austria, Pakistan and the Philippines. More than 10 people tested preliminary-positive.

A government advisory panel unanimously approved Sinovac’s vaccine for emergency use on Tuesday. Photo: Xinhua

A day after a panel of experts advising the government unanimously recommended the Sinovac vaccine for emergency use following a review of new data, more details of the impending roll-out emerged as a source told the Post that the first batch could arrive on Friday at the earliest.

The vaccine was awaiting Secretary for Food and Health Sophia Chan Siu-chee’s approval before it could be shipped from mainland China, the source said.