Experts Will Vet Mainland-made Covid Jabs: CE

Chief Executive Carrie Lam on Tuesday assured the people of Hong Kong that coronavirus vaccines would only be administered after they're vetted by medical experts.

This comes amid growing calls for the government to procure a vaccine which has been approved on the mainland, although its producer, Sinopharm, has yet to release the full data from its trials.

Hong Kong has secured 7.5 million coronavirus jabs from another mainland firm Sinovac, but the drugmaker has repeatedly delayed releasing data from its late-stage trials.

Lam said the SAR has sought support from the central government in securing data regarding the vaccines made by both companies.

She sought to allay concerns that authorities might bypass the experts and approve the emergency use of any mainland-made jabs.

“The central government understands that there’s a legal framework in Hong Kong for the emergency use of any vaccines, meaning data is needed for experts’ assessment and the approval by the health secretary. There isn’t any issue,” she said.

She said Beijing had also promised to help make sure the vaccines Hong Kong ordered from Sinovac could be successfully delivered.

“I have also appealed to the central people’s government if there’s anything that the government could help us in ensuring the early arrival of Sinovac. The response given back to me is that the central people’s government will help. But for the time being, this is the sort of contractual purchase agreement between the Hong Kong SARG and the Sinovac manufacturer,” she said.

She added that coronavirus vaccines bought by the government from BioNTech are scheduled to arrive by the end of this month, and the vaccination programme can start immediately after the delivery of the jabs.