Coronavirus: Hong Kong experts back making BioNTech’s Omicron-specific vaccine alternative to fourth dose
- Data proves efficacy of German-made vaccine against original strain of virus as well as Omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5, Professor David Hui says
- Experts also agree to shorten minimum interval period between doses of BioNTech paediatric vaccine for some children aged six months to five years old
Professor David Hui Shu-cheong, a member of the Scientific Committee on Vaccine Preventable Diseases, on Thursday said additional data had proved the efficacy of the German-made vaccine against the original strain of the virus as well as Omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5.
“There is more data now showing that the antibodies produced by [the new vaccine] are as good as the antibodies produced by the vaccine based on the original strain of the virus,” he said after attending a joint meeting with the committee on zoonotic diseases.
“It is difficult to predict which subvariants will emerge in the future. It takes time to find that out. Therefore, we suggest that we should widen the [vaccine’s] coverage [of different virus strains].”
BioNTech’s second-generation booster contains a bivalent formulation, meaning it is based on two virus strains – the original Covid-19 type, as well as the BA.4 and BA.5 lines. Hui told the Post the vaccine might arrive in the city as early as January.
