The Hong Kong Health Secretary says she is confident that all residents will be offered Covid vaccines by the end of 2021.
The city has signed agreements to obtain more than enough doses for its population, Sophia Chan, secretary of food and health in Hong Kong, told CNBC’s “Capital Connection” on Tuesday.
Asked when Hong Kong could achieve herd immunity, Chan said authorities were still measuring the response to vaccinations and monitoring the delivery schedule. She did not give a timeline for when the city could hit herd immunity, a situation where enough people in the population have become immune to a disease so that it no longer spreads.
“We are pretty confident that by the end of the year … everyone in Hong Kong will have the opportunity to get (their) vaccination,” she said.
Chan added that more than 22 million doses of Covid vaccines have already been ordered.
Hong Kong has a population of about 7.5 million and began vaccination at the end of February. The company has signed deals to buy vaccines from China, Sinovac Biotech, European Oxford-AstraZeneca, as well as one supplied by Fosun Pharma in Shanghai and its partner, German drugmaker BioNTech.
Customers buy fresh vegetables at a street market store in Hong Kong on March 8, 2021.
Anthony Wallace | AFP | Getty Images
Chan said people have so far been “quite enthusiastic” about being vaccinated, but acknowledged that they are still rolling it out in phases and that it is not yet available to the entire population.
She also said experts are investigating the reasons for adverse events, including at least two deaths after vaccination.
“Our scientific committee initially provided the information that it had nothing to do with the vaccination. That is, they find no direct cause of the vaccination,” she said.
Separately, Chan weighed in when Hong Kong would loosen its coronavirus restrictions, saying the city authorities would be “very careful” to do so.
She said the situation remains “a bit unstable” because cases that are not linked to each other are still being reported despite the fact that the new cases are few.
“We really want to … and cut the transmission chains in a community because we do not want any bunches to come out,” she said.
According to Tuesday, Hong Kong reported 21 new cases, bringing the total number of infections to at least 11,121.