Launch of vaccines in Hong Kong hampered by dependence on Chinese traits

When Hong Kong chief executive Carrie Lam rolled up his sleeve to get the first vaccination against the Asian financial center’s Covid-19 last month, he backed the shots fired by the Chinese firm. continental Sinovac Biotech Ltd.

“Today we take the Sinovac vaccine, which was developed and manufactured on the mainland, because it is the first vaccine to arrive in Hong Kong,” Lam said. she said Feb. 22 when she was inoculated at a public ceremony with her best aides.

Since then, confidence in both Sinovac and his government’s vaccine has plummeted. Seven deaths and dozens of adverse reactions were reported after the first 160,000 doses of the shot and residents began enrolling. masses for the vaccine made by BioNTech SE and Pfizer Inc. – the only other available.

Although official investigations revealed no connection between the deaths and Sinovac, and a fatality was also reported after a resident took the BioNTech vaccine, hysteria added to growing public distrust of authorities. Hong Kong for the past two years in Beijing moved to restrict freedom of expression and shut down defenders of democracy. Even before the last crisis, only 37% of adults in the city said they would get a Covid-19 vaccine, according to a survey of the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Now Lam and other officials are urging the public to get vaccinated before they expire, while expanding their eligibility for healthy adults. aged 30-59 pro-democracy in 2019.

“Negative impression”

“Recent Sinovac-related deaths have created a negative impression of vaccines, even if the government says they are unrelated,” said Kenneth Ip, a 43-year-old Hong Kong property manager who said he does not want to be vaccinated. “If they made it mandatory, I would choose BioNTech, not Sinovac.”

Skepticism in Hong Kong highlights public hesitation over vaccines facing governments around the world, including the future of the shot made by AstraZeneca Plc after reports of severe blood clotting in a small number of people in Europe.

The Asian financial center has so far administered doses equivalent to covering 2% of its population, compared to 6.9% in Singapore and 54% in Israel, which leads the world in inoculations, according to Bloomberg vaccine tracker. Authorities have decided to double the vaccine-eligible group twice after only a small percentage of people in the priority groups chose to be punctured.

On Tuesday, in a weekly briefing, Lam said the city would consider extending eligibility for the vaccine to anyone over the age of 16 once more doses arrive. He also said he would consider more incentives to increase vaccination, including whether it would be possible to reduce the mandatory 21-day quarantine for residents returning to the territory.

“I will personally examine this issue,” he told reporters.

The vaccine in Hong Kong does not increase after reports of side effects

Liu Peicheng, a spokesman for Sinovac, said the death toll initially reported in Hong Kong after the first round of inoculations was “unexpectedly high.” While he understands residents ’concerns, Liu stressed that the deaths were unrelated to the vaccine and added that a media frenzy exacerbated the situation.

“Once trust hurts, it’s really very hard to knock it down,” Liu said, adding that Sinovac has had more setbacks in Hong Kong than anywhere else in the world. He said 70 million doses of Sinovac have been administered worldwide, with nearly a third of them to people aged 60 and over and that the rate of adverse events is similarly low in all age groups. .

Sinovac said late Monday it would be able to produce 2 billion doses of Covid-19 vaccine this year.

Hong Kong’s own the analysis shows the efficacy of Sinovac around 62% after a second dose, compared to 97% for BioNTech. And while BioNTech was available in Hong Kong later than Sinovac, it is now getting used to at a faster pace.

Widening the gap

Despite a delayed onset, BioNTech inoculations outnumber those of Sinovac

The percentage of people who do not show up for Sinovac appointments has fluctuated around 20% over the past seven days, according to government data, compared to an average of less than 7% for BioNTech. As of Friday, an average of 15,000 people a day have received a dose of BioNTech, according to the data, while the number of residents who received Sinovac during that time was about 10,700.

Lam Ching-choi, Carrie Lam’s doctor and adviser, said “in retrospect” the first deployment of Sinovac by the government was possible and the highly publicized but unrelated deaths deterred people from inoculation. However, he added, administration experts said Sinovac was safe and could be used in the elderly.

“All measures, whether controlling the epidemic or deploying the vaccination program, are calibrated and guided by science and experts,” he said. “But unfortunately, sometimes these may not be perceived as positive by the general public.”

Hong Kong vaccine reserves skip the first day of extended access

In addition to the deaths at the start of the release, Sinovac’s lack of data on how shootings affect the elderly has fueled public reluctance to get vaccinated. In its emergency approval for Sinovac, the Hong Kong expert committee pointed out there was “insufficient data on efficacy in people aged 60 years or older. “

In a Last week’s statement, the government said the committee of experts recommended Sinovac because the benefit “generally outweighs the risk of not using any vaccine” in people aged 60 and over. He accused critics of trying to “smear” Sinovac’s vaccine.

“I’m not sure why there is so much excitement for Sinovac” in the Hong Kong government, said Benjamin Cowling, a professor and head of epidemiology and biostatistics at the University of Hong Kong. “It’s not such an effective vaccine and there’s not much evidence of its effectiveness in adults over 60.”

Hesitant hesitation

Submission fee for those who have booked Sinovac routes behind BioNTech

Source: Hong Kong government statements