Talks To Buy BioNTech For Children 'going Smoothly'

Health officials on Friday said efforts to secure BioNTech vaccines for children are proceeding smoothly despite an earlier suggestion from a government pandemic advisor that toddler doses of the jab will not be made available in Hong Kong.

Professor Lau Yu-lung, who’s advising the administration on its Covid strategy, called on parents earlier in the day not to wait for the “baby version” of the vaccine, saying the pharmaceutical company will not sell it to Hong Kong, but also that the government won’t find the price acceptable.

But the Centre for Health Protection's Chuang Shuk-kwan said the administration is still trying to procure the jabs for children aged below five, adding that negotiations with pharmaceutical companies are going smoothly.

"I understand it's in progress, although we do not have an exact date of delivery," Chuang said.

"I understand Professor Lau... wants to ask people not to try to delay the vaccination because the cases are increasing now and we have observed some serious illness and death cases among the young children, so we will urge parents to try to bring their children to get vaccinated as soon as possible."

For the day, there were 9,901 new coronavirus infections, including 187 imported cases.

The Hospital Authority said 2,667 Covid patients are being treated in hospitals – 13 of whom are in intensive care.

A 17-month-old boy who was previously in a critical condition is now said to be stable, while a 15-month-old girl remains critically ill.

Authorities also reported another eight Covid-related deaths.

Meanwhile, the government says people need to show a negative PCR test result, apart from using the Vaccine Pass, to visit a care home starting Monday.

The Social Welfare Department said it's updating the rules to protect elderly or disabled people living in the premises.

It said the PCR test must be conducted within 48 hours before the visit.

However, those visiting care homes for official reasons are exempt from the testing requirement.

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