Pfizer, BioNTech Covid-19 vaccines arrive in HK

More than half a million doses of the Comirnaty vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech were delivered to Hong Kong today. (PHOTO COURTESY: Information Services Department/isd.gov.hk)

The first batch of coronavirus vaccines developed by American company Pfizer and German biotechnology firm BioNTech arrived in Hong Kong on Feb. 27.

A total of 585,000 Comirnaty vaccines arrived via a Cathay Pacific flight this afternoon, welcomed by Civil Service Secretary Patrick Nip and Food and Health Secretary Prof. Sophia Chan.

One million doses of this vaccine were slated to arrive yesterday from Germany but were delayed due to export procedure issues. But in a statement, the government said the remainder of the vaccines will be delivered in early March.

These doses distributed in Hong Kong by pharmaceutical firm Fosun Pharmaceutical Co. will be kept in freezers in designated storage facilities as they have strict storage requirements.

A million doses of a different Covid-19 vaccine type arrived in Hong Kong last week—those manufactured by Chinese mainland firm SinoVac. Their vaccine has a reported efficacy rate of over 60% based on the results of clinical trials.

The Comirnaty vaccine, on the other hand, has a reported efficacy rate of over 90%.

The Hong Kong government purchased 7.5 million doses of each of the two Covid-19 vaccines available and approved it for emergency use for the mass vaccination program which began early this week.

The government also procured another 7.5 million doses of the viral vector vaccine from AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford.

Members of the public may visit the website www.covidvaccine.gov.hk to make appointments for vaccination.

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