People who received two doses of Sinovac Covid-19 vaccines at least six months ago will be eligible for the third booster jab from Tuesday onwards, the Hong Kong government announced on Thursday.
The announcement was made after the government began giving the third jab of vaccines to most-at-risk groups on Thursday. The booster scheme was expanded “after assessing the capabilities and the demand in community vaccination centres and Covid-19 vaccination stations,” a government spokesperson said in a press statement on Thursday.
Hong Kong currently provides two brands of Covid-19 vaccine: Sinovac and Pfizer-BioNTech. A government expert committee said in October that the “Comirnaty [Pfizer-BioNTech] vaccine offers greater protection,” though adding that “personal preference is respected.”
The expert panel also recommended on Monday that children as young as 3-years-old can receive a dose of Sinovac vaccine.
Secretary for Justice Teresa Cheng received her Sinovac booster shot on Thursday. Secretary for the Civil Service Patrick Nip, Chief Executive Carrie Lam and Secretary for Food and Health Sophia Chan also chose Sinovac as their third jab of vaccine.
HKFP has reached out to Cheng, Nip, and Lam for comment.
As of Thursday, 4,683,294 people received at least one dose of Covid-19 vaccine, of which 4,483,947 people were fully vaccinated, and 57,546 people received the booster jab.
Hong Kong has recorded 12,392 infections and 213 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic over a year ago.
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