Hong Kong fourth wave: mass Covid-19 vaccination programme to begin around Lunar New Year at four types of locations
- City will roll out first stage of vaccinations for target groups – including the elderly, and hospital and home care staff – in mid-February, doctors say
- Hong Kong reports a slight jump in daily Covid-19 cases to 45 infections, while mainland China also wrestles with a worsening outbreak
Speaking after a meeting with the government, private doctors’ groups quoted officials as saying the city would roll out its first stage of Covid-19 vaccinations for target groups – including the elderly, and hospital and home care staff – around Lunar New Year in mid-February.
Dr Gabriel Choi Kin, chairman of the Hong Kong Medical Association, said officials revealed inoculations would be conducted at four types of locations, including government and private clinics and homes for the elderly where the Sinovac Biotech vaccine would be given.
Community centres across the city’s 18 districts would be used for administering the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, which requires ultra cold storage of minus 70 degrees Celsius.
Word on the roll-out came as three days of falling infections ended but fresh data on the vaccine by mainland-based Sinovac brought some cheer, as a leading government pandemic adviser described the efficacy rate of 78 per cent as “quite desirable”. The city has ordered 7.5 million doses.
In neighbouring Guangdong, authorities lengthened the quarantine period from 14 to 21 days for outsiders as an outbreak in the northern province of Hebei worsened. Residents were also urged not to leave Guangdong unless necessary.
