Carrie Lam takes Sinovac shot
▶ Officials’ inoculation can encourage public: experts
Hong Kong Special Administrative Region ( HKSAR) Chief Executive Carrie Lam and several secretaries took their first shot of the Chinese mainland- developed Sinovac COVID- 19 vaccine in a live broadcast on Monday afternoon.
Observers said the vaccination of senior officials, including Teresa Cheng Yeuk- wah ( Secretary of Justice) and Matthew Cheung Kin- chung ( Chief Secretary of Administration, can encourage members of the public to join the vaccination program.
After taking her first shot and resting for about half an hour for medical observation, Lam said at a press conference that the vaccine brings light in the fight against the epidemic.
Most HKSAR secretaries took the shots as well.
The first batch of 1 million doses of the Sinovac vaccine arrived in Hong Kong on Friday, and the first batch of 1 million doses co- developed by Chinese company Fosun and German vaccine producer BioNTech will arrive by the end of February.
Authorities said they will launch online reservations for vaccinations on Tuesday, and the vaccination program will start on February 26.
Some people and media reports have accused the Hong Kong government of lowering standards for authorizing the Sinovac vaccines. In response, the HKSAR government said on Thursday that the accusation was not truthful.
Feng Duojia, president of the China Vaccine Industry Association, said that the accusation was made out of prejudice against Chinese mainlandmade products.
Some Hong Kong people may not know enough about mainland vaccines as Hong Kong usually uses overseas vaccines, but with an increasing number of residents receiving the Sinovac vaccines, more Hong Kong people will have confidence in mainland- made vaccines, Feng said.
Chinese observers said that the sight of Hong Kong senior officials taking the COVID- 19 vaccine has set a good example for the public, and it can encourage more residents to join the vaccination program.
Lawrence Tang Fei, a member of the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macao Studies and also principal of Hong Kong’s Heung To Secondary School, said that “I will definitely take shots” when the vaccination is available for the public.
Several Hong Kong associations conducted a survey of 930 medical workers from January 7 to 14 and found that 78 percent of the respondents said they would like to take the vaccine while only 5 percent expressed reluctance, media reproted.
Of the respondents, 61 percent chose Sinovac’s inactivated vaccines and 22 percent chose BioNTech’s mRNA vaccine, media reported.
Hong Kong senior officials taking the COVID- 19 vaccine has set a good example for the public, and it can encourage more residents to join the vaccination program.