Coronavirus vaccine: Hong Kong elderly first in line for second-generation BioNTech shots as city rolls out Omicron-specific jabs
- Residents can now receive the German-made bivalent shots against Omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5
- Expert committees to discuss whether bivalent vaccine could be given as third and fifth dose
Hong Kong rolled out the BioNTech Omicron-specific Covid-19 vaccine on Thursday as elderly residents who waited months for its arrival became some of the first to receive the jabs.
Residents can now receive the German-made bivalent shots against Omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5 as their fourth dose at community vaccination centres, as well as at inoculation stations in hospitals, and designated general outpatient and private clinics.
At the Java Road Playground Community Vaccination Station in Quarry Bay, around 90 people received the newly arrived vaccine in the first two hours of it being available.
Some elderly residents said they had been delaying getting their fourth dose, which had been available since May, after learning that the bivalent vaccine would be introduced in Hong Kong.
Lisa Lau, a 66-year-old retiree who received her third vaccine in January, decided to get the fourth dose on the first day of its launch, adding she chose BioNTech for all her shots.