BioNTech Jabs Won't Arrive In HK As Scheduled

The government said one million doses of coronavirus vaccines produced by German drug maker BioNTech would not arrive in Hong Kong on Thursday as scheduled.

In a statement on Wednesday, a government spokesman cited the pharmaceutical company as saying that the first batch of one million doses of the jabs procured by Hong Kong had been made, but were still going through export procedures.

BioNTech said the delay was not related to export restrictions imposed by the European Union on coronavirus vaccines.

"The government will continue to follow up on the matter proactively, and start giving citizens the BioNTech jabs as soon as they arrive," a government spokesman said.

The government has planned to administer the BioNTech vaccine at more than 20 vaccination centres across the city.

Hong Kong's vaccination programme is due to begin on Friday.

Jabs made by the mainland firm, Sinovac, were the first to arrive in the city. The first batch of one million doses came here last Friday.

Hong Kong has procured 7.5 million doses from Sinovac, BioNTech-Fosun and AstraZeneca each.