- The city has agreed to buy doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech, Sinovac and AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccines
- Factors such as availability, safety and efficacy of vaccines will determine how shots are distributed to residents
The vaccine roll-out date in Hong Kong is yet to be confirmed. Photo: APOn Monday, Hong Kong authorities recommended the BioNTech vaccine for use, although the jab is still subject to the health minister’s final approval. Factors such as availability, safety and efficacy of other Covid-19 vaccines will also determine how jabs are distributed to residents.
Here is what we know so far.
Is anything holding up the vaccine approval process in Hong Kong?
Hong Kong has ordered three Covid-19 vaccines – procuring 7.5 million doses of each – but the arrival schedule appears to be different from that originally announced by the government. Delays are expected.
Although the first 1 million doses of Beijing-based Sinovac’s CoronaVac were initially expected to arrive this month, experts believe this will be delayed because the pharmaceutical firm is releasing its vaccine data more slowly than originally planned.
There has been some progress on the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. Fosun Pharma, BioNTech’s partner in China and supplier of the vaccine in Hong Kong, has made an application for emergency use in the city.
The government’s advisory expert panel on Covid-19 vaccines has already recommended the jab for use, but final approval rests with Secretary for Food and Health Professor Sophia Chan Siu-chee.
On Monday, panel member Professor David Hui Shu-cheong revealed the first doses of the BioNTech vaccine would arrive in late February. Dr Tsang Ho-fai, a member of a government task force on the vaccination scheme, had previously said the vaccine would arrive in early February or even before that.
No application for the AstraZeneca-Oxford University vaccine, expected to arrive in Hong Kong in the middle of this year, has been made yet.
Any concerns about the vaccines?
Concerns about the safety of the BioNTech vaccine were heightened after 33 elderly people were reported to have died in Norway after receiving the injection. At least 13 of the deaths were probably related to the vaccine, it was suggested.
In Germany, 10 deaths were reported after 800,000 people were vaccinated.
While the experts recommended the vaccine’s use in Hong Kong, panel convenor Professor Wallace Lau Chak-sing said they would ask for more information on the deaths from Fosun, as well as the health authorities in Norway and Germany.
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The efficacy of the mainland-made Sinovac vaccine also remains unclear, as different figures were released by various countries where clinical trials were conducted. Figures ranged from 50.4 per cent in a Brazilian trial to 97 per cent in Indonesia.
Conclusions could only be drawn when vaccine data was published in a peer-reviewed journal article, experts said.
Will the vaccination scheme be affected?
Last weekend, Lau said the authorities could not rule out the possibility of postponing a decision on vaccinations amid the safety concerns.
Infectious disease specialist Dr Joseph Tsang Kay-yan said the order in which various groups received jabs, as well as the speed of the inoculation campaign, would be affected if the BioNTech vaccine was first to be used.
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That was mainly because of storage requirements for the BioNTech vaccine, which needs to be kept at minus 70 degrees Celsius and used within five days of thawing.
“Venues where vaccination can be conducted will be limited,” Tsang said. “Outreach services [to care homes for the elderly] cannot be provided, and naturally the vaccination progress will be slower.”
The government had first expected to include care home residents among priority groups for vaccination, but Tsang believed they would need to wait for the CoronaVac or AstraZeneca-Oxford jabs, which were more likely to be used for outreach services.
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Elderly hospital patients and health care workers could be vaccinated first if the BioNTech vaccine was to be used, he said.
Should Hong Kong still proceed with the scheme?
No experts have called for the vaccination campaign to be halted, despite the overseas reports of adverse consequences and some deaths. Tsang said the scheme should go ahead as there had not been concrete evidence that the deaths were directly linked to the vaccine.
But he said the government should have a comprehensive monitoring system for any rare or serious side effects after vaccination and maintain close contacts with countries where the same jabs had been used too.
Any backup plans?
The government is still identifying a fourth vaccine and aims to eventually procure a total of 30 million doses, or enough to cover twice the city’s 7.5 million population assuming each type requires two shots.
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William Chui Chun-ming, president of the Society of Hospital Pharmacists of Hong Kong, said the government should speed up the delivery date of the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine in case problems emerged with the other two. Overseas trials data showed the vaccine could provide protection even though there was a three-month gap between the first dose and a booster jab.
“At least one dose could be offered to high-risk people and provide a certain level of protection first,” he said.