Vaccines can fight mutant variants, said health expert

The effectiveness of the vaccines may drop when encountering mutant variants of Covid-19, yet it still can fight the virus, according to health official Thomas Tsang Ho-fai.

In a radio program, Tsang, a member of the government's vaccination programme task force, reminded citizens that they should not avoid getting the jabs with excuses saying the virus will evolve into other mutant variants.

He referred to the situation in the UK, that over 90 percent of cases involved the Delta variant, which was first discovered in India. He then cited research findings that the BioNTech vaccine can provide recipients 80 percent level of protection against the Delta variant.

Tsang also believed that more and more citizens are going to get the jabs. He pointed out that people were less willing to get the jabs before as they wished to observe others and see if there are any side effects.

The momentum is getting better as people start encouraging friends and families to get the vaccines as well, he added.

Over 2.5 million Hongkongers have gotten the first dose of the vaccines, and some 20 percent of teenagers aged from 12 to 19 have gotten their jabs.
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