When Hong Kong CEO Carrie Lam rolled up her shirt sleeve to get the Asian financial center’s first vaccination against Covid-19 last month, she confirmed the shots from the Chinese mainland. Sinovac Biotech Ltd.
“Today we are taking the Sinovac vaccine, which was developed and manufactured on the mainland because it is the first vaccine to arrive in Hong Kong,” Lam said. said on February 22 when she was vaccinated during a public ceremony with her top assistants.
Since then, confidence in Sinovac as well as the government’s vaccine drive has declined. Seven deaths and dozens of adverse reactions were reported after the first 160,000 doses of the shot, and residents began reporting groups for the vaccine administered by BioNTech SE and Pfizer Inc. – the only other available.
Carrie Lam receives a dose from Sinovac Biotech Ltd. on 22 February Covid-19 vaccine.
Photographer: Lam Yik / Bloomberg
While official investigations revealed no link between the deaths and Sinovac, and that one fatality was also reported after a resident took the BioNTech vaccine, the hysteria was, moreover, the growing public distrust of the Hong Kong authorities. past two years as Beijing. moves to restrict freedom of speech and lock up democratic advocates. Even before the latest crisis, only 37% of adults in the city said they would get vaccinated against Covid-19, according to a survey of the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
Now, Lam and other public officials are advocating for vaccines before they expire, while also increasing the expansion of fitness for healthy adults. elderly 30 to 59. The low vaccination rate, which follows Singapore, threatens to delay the reopening of Hong Kong compared to other major cities, hurting an economy already plagued by the double blow of the 2019 pandemic and pro-democracy protests is.
‘Negative impression’
“The recent deaths associated with Sinovac have given a negative impression of vaccines, even though the government says they are not related,” said Kenneth Ip, a 43-year-old property manager in Hong Kong who said he did not want to have not. to be vaccinated. “If they make it mandatory, I will choose BioNTech, not Sinovac.”
The skepticism in Hong Kong underscores the public hesitation about vaccinations facing governments around the world, including the future of the shot made by AstraZeneca Plc following reports of severe blood clotting in a small number of people in Europe.
According to Bloomberg, the Asian financial center has so far administered doses equivalent to 2% of its population, compared to 6.9% for Singapore and 54% in Israel. vaccine dop. Authorities have twice decided to expand the group eligible for vaccinations after only a small percentage of people in priority groups preferred to be pinned.
Lamb said in a weekly briefing on Tuesday that the city would consider increasing the admission to the vaccine for anyone over the age of 16 if doses arrived again. She also said she would investigate more incentives to promote the vaccination, including whether it is possible to reduce the mandatory 21-day quarantine for residents returning to the area.
“I will personally investigate this matter,” she told reporters.
Hong Kong’s unannounced vaccination after side effects reports
Liu Peicheng, a spokesman for Sinovac, said the number of deaths initially reported in Hong Kong after the first round of vaccinations was “unexpectedly high”. While understanding the concerns among residents, Liu stressed that the deaths were not related to the vaccine, while adding that a media frenzy was exacerbating the situation.
“Once trust is hurt, it’s hard to turn around,” Liu said, adding that Sinovac had more back pressure in Hong Kong than anywhere else in the world. He said 70 million doses of Sinovac had been given around the world, almost a third of which were to people aged 60 and older, and that the number of adverse events in all age groups was just as low.
Sinovac said late Monday that it could produce 2 billion doses of Covid-19 vaccine this year.
Hong Kong’s own an analysis shows that the effectiveness of Sinovac was around 62% after a second dose, compared to 97% for BioNTech. And although BioNTech was later available as Sinovac in Hong Kong, it is now being used faster.
Widening gap
Despite a delayed start, BioNTech vaccinations surpass Sinovac’s
The percentage of people not showing up for Sinovac appointments has turned around 20% over the past seven days, compared to an average of less than 7% for BioNTech. Since Friday, an average of 15,000 people a day received a dose of BioNTech, the data show, while the number of residents that Sinovac received during that time averaged about 10,700.
Lam Ching-choi, a medical doctor and adviser to Carrie Lam, said in retrospect that it was possible that the government’s early deployment of Sinovac and the strongly publicized but unrelated deaths had prevented people from being vaccinated. to become. However, government experts added that Sinovac is safe and can be used on the elderly.
Hong Kong Food and Health Secretary Sophia Chan and Public Service Secretary Patrick Nip will receive their second dose of Sinovac Biotech Ltd. on March 22. Covid-19 vaccine.
Photographer: Ivan Abreu / Bloomberg
“Every measure, whether it is epidemic control or the vaccination of the vaccination program, is all calibrated and guided by science and experts,” he said. “Unfortunately, sometimes it can not be considered positive by the general public.”
Vaccine information in Hong Kong jumps on first day of extended access
Aside from the deaths early in the deployment, Sinovac’s lack of information on how the shots affected the elderly led to the public’s reluctance to be vaccinated. In his emergency statement for Sinovac, the expert committee of Hong Kong noticed there was “insufficient efficacy data in humans elderly 60 and above. ”
In a last week, the government said the expert committee recommended Sinovac because the benefit “outweighs the risk of not using any vaccines” in people 60 and older. It has accused critics of trying to “lubricate” Sinovac’s vaccine.
“I’m not sure why there is so much enthusiasm for Sinovac” in the Hong Kong government, “said Benjamin Cowling, a professor and head of epidemiology and biostatistics at the University of Hong Kong. “It is not as effective, and there is not much evidence of its effectiveness in older adults over 60.”
Vaccine hesitation
Attendance rate for those who booked Sinovac trails behind BioNTech
Source: Statements by the Hong Kong Government
Carrie Lam herself criticized the slow recording, and said last week that the government would investigate whether there was room for social distance measures to be vaccinated. Beijing earlier this month made the visa process easier for people who had received Chinese vaccines.
But the pro-democracy opposition in Hong Kong blames the government for using public health issues for political purposes, including referring to the pandemic because the Legislative Council Act was delayed by a year. Beijing overhauled the electoral system earlier this month to ensure the Communist Party has a veto on candidates.
How China’s influence reforms Hong Kong’s landscape
Ramon Yuen, a district councilor for the opposition Democratic Party, said Carrie Lam only got the Sinovac shot to show her “loyalty” to China and should have been more careful about introducing vaccines for the elderly.
“It has damaged people’s confidence in the system,” Yuen said. “A lot of people say the government has its own agenda, and that will affect the effectiveness of public health policy.”
– With the help of Chloe Lo
(Updates with Carrie Lam’s weekly information session from 9th paragraph.)