By The SUN
Residents may get the bivalent booster shot starting on Thursday, Dec. 1
Hong Kong residents who wish to take as their fourth dose BioNTech’s second-generation Covid-19 vaccine that targets the highly transmissible Omicron variant may start booking their shots on Sunday, with the jabs set to be available starting on Dec 1.
The first batch of the bivalent vaccine arrived as the daily Covid tally reached 8,874 on Saturday, of which 509 were imported.
Nine more coronavirus patients died.
In the wake of the renewed uptick in cases, the
government has rejected a further relaxation of social distancing measures,
saying this amounted to “adding fuel to the fire”, and would make Hong Kong’s
pandemic situation “burn more fiercely”.
Speaking in a television interview,
Undersecretary for Health Dr Libby Lee said “there will be no room if we rush
through relaxation.”
Addressing people who said they are not afraid
of coming down with the virus, Dr Lee said they should also take heed of the
elderly and children at their homes as they may not be as strong as they are.
She also repeated an appeal for people to get
vaccinated, especially the young and the elderly, to prevent complications and
even deaths.
Health experts recommend the bivalent vaccine
against Omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5, the most common strains affecting
most parts of the world now, to be given as a fourth dose or as a third one for
recovered patients.
It is particularly recommended for residents
aged 50 and above, immunocompromised individuals aged over 12 and those who are
over 18 who are at high risk of exposure to the coronavirus.
But according to the Secretary for the Civil Service
Ingrid Yeung who is in charge of the city’s vaccination drive, people can still
choose not to get the bivalent vaccine and opt for the one based on the
original virus strain when they book their appointments online.
The new bivalent vaccine will be offered at
community vaccination centers, inoculation stations in hospitals and designated
private and outpatient public clinics starting next Thursday.
The only people not allowed to take the new
vaccine are those who have never been vaccinated, or received the suitable
number of doses.
About 770,000 doses of the second-generation vaccine
arrived in Hong Kong, the first batch of a total of 1.9 million doses procured by
the government. The rest of the stock is expected to arrive by the end of the year.
Meanwhile, Chief Executive John Lee has tested
negative on his sixth day in quarantine after coming down with Covid-19 on his
return to Hong Kong from the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in
Thailand.
CE Lee wrote on his social media accounts that
“except for the occasional cough,” he no longer had any health issues. He added
there was only “one line” on his latest rapid antigen test.
