COVID-19: Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam and other officials get China's Sinovac vaccine

On Monday, February 22, Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam and other government officials received COVID-19 vaccines. After being inoculated, Lam said, “We are very determined, very committed to rolling out a free and universal vaccination program for the people of Hong Kong so that we could get ourselves out of this epidemic as soon as possible”. Lam and the city’s health minister Sophia Chan were among the first people to receive the vaccine after a million doses of the vaccine by Chinese biopharmaceutical company Sinovac Biotech arrived. 

Concerns of low efficacy 

Lam said that to battle the pandemic, efforts are required from the people of Hong Kong. This comes after a recent poll conducted by the University of Hong Kong showed that respondents were distrustful of the Chinese vaccine. Only 30 per cent were willing to accept it as there have been concerns of low efficacy. Also, 56 per cent people were willing to take the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

Read: China's SinoVac Efficacy Remains Inconsistent, COVID-19 Cases Surge In The Country

Amidst China's constant effort to push its COVID-19  vaccine, SinoVac in other nations, and debates on its efficacy, public reports on its effectiveness have been inconsistent, which the Chinese firm says has been caused by the variations in methodology. China started the emergency use of its vaccine in July last year. Experts have said that the country has been slow with pushing the trial data. China has administered more than 10 million doses of its state-owned firm Sinopharm which also has not published phase 3 trial data, as per a DD News report. 

Read: Hong Kong: Jailed Media Tycoon Jimmy Lai Arrested Again, Says Report

Earlier, Hong Kong announced that it may delay the distribution of the Sinovac’s Covid-19 vaccine because of a lack of trial data, raising transparency concerns over a vaccine Beijing wants to sell throughout the developing world. However, China has started exporting its vaccines, as most countries are likely to need more than one type of vaccine to meet the demand. The exports come even as China battles its own flare-up in infections, which has put nearly 30 million people in lockdown. 

Read: China Approves 16 Locally-made Covid Vaccines For Clinical Trials

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(Image Credits: AP)