Coronavirus: Hong Kong confirms 3 imported Covid-19 cases as expert assures residents BioNTech vaccine safe for children

The latest cases, three arrivals from Indonesia, came after no infections emerged on Friday. The local coronavirus count now stands at 11,877, with 210 related deaths. The vaccination drive also hit a new daily high, with just over 54,000 doses being administered, according to the government.

Chinese University Professor David Hui Shu-cheong, a respiratory medicine expert and government pandemic adviser, took to the airwaves in the morning to address public concerns that followed the government lowering the age threshold for the German-made BioNTech shots to 12 years old. Online bookings for the younger children opened on Friday, and the first doses will be administered on Monday. 

Hui said inflammation of the heart muscle, or myocarditis, rarely happened in teens after inoculation. He noted that in Israel, for example, only 121 of 5.4 million recipients experienced the condition after their second dose of the BioNTech vaccine, with most of the sufferers under the age of 30 and male. 

Residents should not be alarmed, he said, advising young recipients to take simple steps such as avoiding vigorous activities and seeking medical help if they had an adverse reaction such as fever or chest pain. 

Hui was also asked about the case of a 17-year-old girl who was infected with the Alpha variant of the coronavirus. The strain had not circulated locally in Hong Kong before and authorities were still trying to track down its origin.

The teen was probably infected by a silent carrier who entered the city but went undetected during quarantine testing due to an exceptionally long incubation period of the strain lasting more than 21 days, he said.