Govt To Set Up Community Centres For Vaccines

Health Secretary Sophia Chan said on Thursday that the government is planning to set up community centres for people to get jabs of the BioNTech coronavirus vaccine, as it is difficult to store and transport.

Speaking on an RTHK programme, Chan said the vaccine needs to be stored at a very low temperature, and it will be best for the government to coordinate the logistics.

But she said other brands of vaccine could be administered by private doctors.

Chan added that people will be able to choose which Covid-19 vaccine they want to receive, by signing up to get injected at different places.

Welfare Secretary Law Chi-kwong, meanwhile, said health authorities are deciding which brand of vaccine to use for vulnerable groups of people, including care home residents and staff who will be given priority to be inoculated.

Law said health officials may go to some care homes to give people the shots, as many residents have mobility difficulties.

But he said such an arrangement would be challenging because of logistic issues and because there are around a thousand care homes in the territory.

The government says it has secured millions of doses of the BioNTech/Fosun Pharma, Sinovac, and Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines and it is looking to get more shots from a fourth manufacturer.