BioNTech Toddler Doses May Soon Be Available

A University of Hong Kong paediatrician, Patrick Ip, said on Saturday that he thinks the government will soon be able to buy doses of the BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine that are suitable for toddlers.

Speaking after appearing on a commercial radio programme, the associate professor said officials and the drug manufacturer were working on the logistics, and that he was optimistic that things would work out.

But Dr Ip added that unvaccinated children should still get the Sinovac jab first, as this would offer protection ahead of an expected winter surge in Covid cases.

"The major premise is that parents shouldn't wait for BioNTech. The epidemic is recurring, you need about four months to complete three jabs... so parents should go for Sinovac now to get sufficient protection for their children," he told reporters.

Dr Ip said he thought the daily Covid caseload would hover around 5,000 for a month or two.

He made the comments two days after children, aged between six months and three, were given the go-ahead by the government to receive Sinovac jabs.

Speaking on the same programme, a government pandemic advisor, Lau Yu-lung, said there had so far only been about a thousand bookings for the vaccine.

He said that makes up less than one percent of the local population below three, but the target is to get at least half of them inoculated.

Dr Lau said he understands that parents may have vaccine hesitancy for their young children. He said paediatricians and family doctors should provide more explanation.