Hong Kong’s health chief Sophia Chan Siu-chee said on Wednesday that the BioNTech jab suspension is for the sake of prudence, reassuring the public that there is no evidence showing the safety of the batch of vaccine in question has been compromised.
She said health officials will have meetings with Fosun Pharma - BioNTech's partner company in the region - as soon as possible and will make further announcements once they have an update.
The use of the BioNTech Comirnaty jabs was suspended in Hong Kong today after the government made the announcement at 10am, with the government citing "defective packaging" for the batch of vaccine numbered 210102.
Meanwhile, authorities are under fire for the late announcement of the suspension, with people turned away from vaccination centers this morning.
“They could have alerted us earlier if they are going to suspend the vaccination, a text message would already save us the time getting to the centers,” said a man surnamed Chan who had just been turned away from the vaccination center in Kowloon Tong.
“Some people have to take a day off for the vaccination, this is chaotic!” he added.
However, people are still managing to find the silver lining over the suspension.
“I guess it is a good thing that the government is being cautious, making sure the vaccines are safe before administering them to us. Although I am a little bit disappointed, but I guess I will have to just come back again for the jab,” a woman said.
The use of the BioNTech Comirnaty jabs was suspended in Hong Kong today after the government made the announcement at 10am, with the government citing "defective packaging" for the batch of vaccine numbered 210102.
Meanwhile, authorities are under fire for the late announcement of the suspension, with people turned away from vaccination centers this morning.
“They could have alerted us earlier if they are going to suspend the vaccination, a text message would already save us the time getting to the centers,” said a man surnamed Chan who had just been turned away from the vaccination center in Kowloon Tong.
“Some people have to take a day off for the vaccination, this is chaotic!” he added.
However, people are still managing to find the silver lining over the suspension.
“I guess it is a good thing that the government is being cautious, making sure the vaccines are safe before administering them to us. Although I am a little bit disappointed, but I guess I will have to just come back again for the jab,” a woman said.