HK Suspends BioNTech Jabs 'over Packaging Fears'

The government announced on Wednesday that it had temporarily stopped administering BioNTech coronavirus vaccines due to "packaging problems" in one of the batches of supplies.

A statement said that although the drugmaker did not find any safety risks associated with problems with the caps on the vials, the use of the jabs was being suspended pending an investigation.

The government said people who had made bookings for the jabs should not go to vaccination centres until further notice.

Earlier, Macau also suspended its BioNTech vaccination programme citing packaging concerns.

"Vaccinations with the concerned products must be suspended," Macau's government said in a statement.

Unlike in other parts of the world, US company Pfizer is not distributing the BioNTech vaccine in the two SARs, with mainland company Fosun Pharma the distributor for the Greater China region.

Fosun has also announced plans to produce the BioNTech jab on the mainland in future.

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