Hong Kong to receive first batch of Covid-19 vaccines targeting XBB variant ‘by end of the year’
- Source says one batch of vaccines arriving end of this year, and other to be delivered in early 2024
- Administrative work will still need to be done, another insider says, and government is advising residents not to wait for their arrival if they are in need of booster
Hong Kong will receive its first batch of Covid-19 vaccines targeting the XBB variant by the end of this year, the Post has learned.
Secretary for Health Lo Chung-mau on Thursday said the government had bought the third-generation inoculations and hoped they could be delivered “soon”, as authorities announced the end of the summer flu season which began in late August.
“The initial supply may be limited and will arrive in Hong Kong in batches,” Lo said. “We will first vaccinate high-risk patients with the XBB-targeting vaccines.”
A source familiar with the matter said one batch of vaccines would arrive by the end of this year, and other would be delivered in early 2024.
The insider said the quantity of the first batch was expected to be in the “tens of thousands”.
“Some administrative and IT work will be needed before jabs are given out,” another source said, without elaborating when the vaccines could be made available to the public.
Lo urged the public not to wait for the vaccines to land, telling them to get a booster shot if six months had passed since their previous dose.