Mark for the clothing vaccination program of a staff outside a community vaccination center that administers the BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine imported by Fosun Pharma in Hong Kong, China, on Wednesday, March 17, 2021.
Chan Long Hei | Bloomberg via Getty Images
Shares of Chinese pharmaceutical group Shanghai Fosun fell after Hong Kong and Macau announced on Wednesday that they were suspending vaccines against BioNTech Covid.
Fosun Pharma, a partner of BioNTech in the development and distribution of the Comirnaty Covid-19 vaccine in China, notified the cities of a packaging defect in batch 210102 of the vaccine.
Hong Kong and Macau said they were suspending vaccines made in Germany as a precautionary measure.
Cities said BioNTech and Fosun Pharma are investigating the cause of the vial plug defect, adding that there is currently no reason to doubt the safety of the vaccine.
Macau said all of its messenger RNA or mRNA vaccines belong to the affected batch. Hong Kong said it would also temporarily suspend vaccines from lot 210104 until the investigation is completed.
Shares in Hong Kong of Fosun Pharma fell 4.83% on Wednesday afternoon in the city.
Hong Kong approved the BioNTech vaccine for emergency use in January, while Macau granted special vaccine import authorization in late February. Both territories received their first batch of shots in late February.
BioNTech’s mRNA-based vaccine has a proven 95% efficacy in adults, according to data from its global Phase 3 clinical trial. And real-world data has shown “very strong” results from the two-dose Povizer-BioNTech Covid vaccine, even after a single shot.
The news comes as countries around the world compete to vaccinate their populations in the face of rising Covid cases in most regions.
Globally, more than 124 million infections have been reported and the number of deaths from Covid has exceeded 2.7 million, according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University.