Don't Listen To Malicious Vaccine Rumours, Says CE

Chief Executive Carrie Lam has urged people not to pay attention to "malicious rumours" about the government's vaccine procurement plan and instead listen to the experts.

Speaking ahead of her weekly Executive Council meeting on Tuesday, Lam said that a small number of people with ulterior motives have been trying to politicise the matter, but people should not believe false information.

She dismissed media reports that some members of the government's two scientific committees looking at vaccines have not recommended the use of a jab by mainland company Sinovac, which is yet to publish data for its phrase three clinical trials.

"Some have quoted unnamed people's comments. I would invite this reporter to tell us which expert from the scientific committees said that," Lam said.

The government says it has secured 7.5 million doses from Sinovac, as well as the same number of doses of the vaccine developed by the German firm BioNTech in collaboration with the mainland's Fosun Pharma.

Meanwhile, the CE warned that Hong Kong's coronavirus situation is still very serious with around 600 newly-confirmed infections each week for the past few weeks.

She repeated a call for people to stay at home, avoid unnecessary group gatherings, and not to go out unless necessary.

She conceded that this is a "harsh demand" being as Christmas and New Year are around the corner, but said people must be patient.