By The SUN
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| All those scheduled to get the BioNTech shot from Apr 5 can keep their appointments |
The Hong Kong government has announced that it will resume giving free BioNTech
coronavirus jabs to residents from Monday, Apr 5, after the expected arrival
tomorrow of a new shipment of the vaccine from Germany.
This means that those scheduled to have their jab on Monday will get it
as scheduled. Those who were originally scheduled to receive their second dose
of the vaccine on or before Apr 4 will be given new time slots between Apr 5
and 10.
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Those who missed their booking for their first shot will also be allocated new time slots that they can change through the online booking system: www.covidvaccine.gov.hk
The BioNTech inoculation was halted because of concerns over leaks and other packaging issues with the initial shipment of more than 500,000 doses.
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The resumption of the vaccination came after the German drug
company submitted a report to the Department of Health showing that the defects
of the vaccine’s vial lids were due to problems during shipment and did not
affect the quality or safety of the vaccines.
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Civil Service Secretary Patrick Nip who oversees the government’s
inoculation programme said 300,000 doses of BioNTech will arrive in Hong Kong Friday and will be used for those who will take the jab from Monday.
The two batches sent earlier, identified as 210102 and 210104, will be kept in storage until the manufacturer submits a final report on the investigation
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Nip said about 183,000 people were booked to get their BioNTech jabs during the suspension period. Of these, 30,000 people were scheduled to get their second dose and will be given priority to make full use of the vaccine’s efficacy.
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“Those two groups, starting from April 2,
would receive an SMS concerning their bookings,” Nip said. “If they are not
available for vaccination on the allocated date and time, they can change the
time when the BioNTech vaccination online booking system reopens at 9am on
[Saturday],” Nip said.
Another vaccine made by mainland company,
Sinovac is also used to inoculate Hong Kong residents.
Nip said a total of 505,000 shots of the two
vaccines have been administered so far. Among them, around 461,000 people have
only received the first dose, making up only about seven percent of everyone
qualified to get the shot. He said this is far below the target needed to reach
herd immunity in Hong Kong.
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