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Hong Kong began administering its first Covid-19 vaccines to the public on Friday, launching its program offering free vaccinations to 7.5 million people.
People aged 60 and over and health workers are among some 2.4 million people currently prioritized to receive vaccines at community centers and outpatient clinics in Hong Kong. The government said registrations for the first two weeks of the program were full.
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So far, participants will receive the vaccine from Chinese biopharmaceutical company Sinovac. One million doses arrived in the city last week, and Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam and other senior government officials were vaccinated first in a bid to build confidence in the program.
A survey released in January by the University of Hong Kong found that respondents were concerned about the effectiveness of the Chinese vaccine.
A Hong Kong expert panel said the efficacy of the Sinovac vaccine after two doses, 21 days apart, was 62.3%. In contrast, a study conducted in Israel found that the two-dose Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was 92% effective.
Hong Kong has since made deals to purchase a total of 22.5 million vaccine doses, with 7.5 million vaccines each from Sinovac, AstraZeneca and Fosun Pharma, which will deliver the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines to the city.
The government has so far approved the Sinovac and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines. The first million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine were due to arrive on Thursday but were delayed by export procedures, the government said in a statement.
The local South China Morning Post reported that they are now due to arrive on Saturday at the earliest.
This story was posted from an agency feed with no text editing.
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