Coronavirus: Hong Kong’s Covid-19 vaccination drive on course for 70 per cent milestone for first doses, says official in charge of the campaign
- Maintaining current rate of administering 30,000 initial shots a day puts 70 per cent coverage in reach, Patrick Nip says
- Hong Kong confirms two new imported cases of the coronavirus on Sunday
Patrick Nip Tak-kuen, the civil service chief who is also in charge of Hong Kong’s vaccination campaign, on Sunday said at least 2 million people still needed to get vaccinated and that progress towards achieving herd immunity was dependent on encouraging the elderly to take the jab.
“If we don’t make use of the time we have to get vaccinated and reach a vaccination rate of 70 per cent, we will not be able to reach herd immunity,” he told a radio show, with the city’s inoculation drive still struggling to gain traction.
Nip stressed that herd immunity was a precondition for the city returning to normal and reopening its borders, saying it provided added protection against mutant strains of the coronavirus.
“If we maintain the pace of having about 30,000 people getting their first shot every day, we would get about 1 million vaccinated in a month, which would mean 70 per cent of people would have received their first jab in the following two months,” he said.