A milion doses of the coronavirus vaccine from China's Sinovac will be shipped to Hong Kong in January as part of "groundbreaking'' purchase agreements.
The Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said today in a live briefing, the government has reached an agreement with two coronavirus vaccine manufacturers, China's Sinovac Biotech, and Pfizer-BioNTech. Orders have been placed for 7.5 million vaccines from each company.
She said the vaccine purchases were "groundbreaking'' in that 15 million vaccines would were secured.
The first batch of 1 million doses from Sinovac would be delivered in January, Lam said. Another million coronavirus vaccines will be available from Pfizer-BioNTech in the first quarter.
Lam briefed the media at 3:00pm at Central Government Offices, at Tamar in Admiralty.
Priority groups, including medical workers, the elderly, seniors in care homes, people with chronic illnesses, and care home workers will be inoculated first.
The coronavirus vaccinations would be free to everyone in Hong Kong.
Discussions have been held to purchase the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccines, but these will be available in the second half of next year.
She said the vaccine purchases were "groundbreaking'' in that 15 million vaccines would were secured.
The first batch of 1 million doses from Sinovac would be delivered in January, Lam said. Another million coronavirus vaccines will be available from Pfizer-BioNTech in the first quarter.
Lam briefed the media at 3:00pm at Central Government Offices, at Tamar in Admiralty.
Priority groups, including medical workers, the elderly, seniors in care homes, people with chronic illnesses, and care home workers will be inoculated first.
The coronavirus vaccinations would be free to everyone in Hong Kong.
Discussions have been held to purchase the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccines, but these will be available in the second half of next year.