Vaccines Already Ordered For One-third Of Residents

An infectious disease expert who advises the government on the Covid-19 pandemic on Sunday said the administration has already ordered vaccines for one-third of the city's population.

Chinese University Professor David Hui said it's procuring the vaccines through a global initiative linked with the World Health Organisation called Covax.

He added that the elderly, chronically-ill patients and medical workers will be the first to get vaccinated, and the ultimate goal is to secure two jabs for each and every person in the SAR.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Friday said 78 high-income countries had now joined the Covax global vaccine allocation plan, bringing the total to 170 countries, and the "number is growing". He urged others to join by the September 18 deadline for binding commitments.

Joining the plan guaranteed those countries access to the world's largest portfolio of vaccines, with nine candidates currently in the pipeline, he said, adding that a further four were "promising".

The WHO and the GAVI vaccine alliance are leading the Covax facility, aimed at helping buy and distribute vaccination shots fairly around the world. (Additional reporting by Reuters)