'Private Doctors To Give Out Sinovac Jabs This Week'

The Chief Secretary, Matthew Cheung, said on Sunday that groups of people who are given a priority for Covid-19 vaccines can get their shots directly from selected private doctors later this week.

Writing in his weekly blog, the top official said the list of private clinics which are participating in the territory's Covid-19 vaccination programme will be uploaded on the government's designated website on Monday.

Cheung said eligible citizens, including people who are 60 years old or more, as well as health-care workers, can contact the private doctors about getting the shots, without having to book online.

He added that the private doctors would be giving out the mainland-made Sinovac vaccines.

The Sinovac jabs were the first coronavirus vaccines to reach Hong Kong, and had a previously-reported efficacy rate of just over 50 percent based on late-stage clinical trials in Brazil.

More than 13,600 people in Hong Kong had already received the first dose of the Sinovac vaccine since February 22, Cheung said.

As for the BioNTech coronavirus vaccine, he said the government would allow online bookings for the 600,000 doses as soon as possible.