Hong Kong on Wednesday passed a new law to simplify the procedure of introducing COVID-19 vaccines in an effort to tackle the new wave of outbreak.
Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Carrie Lam said at a press conference that the regulation, passed by the HKSAR Executive Council, allows the secretary for food and health to approve COVID-19 vaccines for emergency use under the government vaccination program.
The new law will be effective immediately for a year.
To greenlight a vaccine, the secretary for food and health will refer to the clinical data, consult an expert committee and take into account if it has been approved by drug authorities outside Hong Kong, Lam said.
The government has ordered a total of 22.5 million doses of vaccines from three providers, enough for Hong Kong's 7.5 million residents, as each person needs to take two shots for the vaccination.
The first batch of 1 million doses provided by Sinovac Biotech (Hong Kong) are expected to be delivered to Hong Kong in January 2021. Another 1 million doses developed by Fosun Pharma and BioNTech could be shipped to Hong Kong in the first quarter. The third type of vaccine is developed by AstraZeneca in collaboration with the University of Oxford.
Lam said the government is still working to secure additional 7.5 million doses from a fourth vaccine maker to ensure the number of vaccines can cover twice Hong Kong's population.
After vaccines are shipped to Hong Kong, the government will provide free vaccination for all residents on a voluntary basis, with medical workers, aged residents and people with underlying conditions to be prioritized.
Lam said people are allowed to choose which type of vaccine they take and the government will guarantee transparent information about vaccines.
During the press conference, Lam also said the current two-week compulsory quarantine for inbound visitors could be prolonged to a maximum of 28 days, as some patients were tested positive after being lifted from the isolation.
The government will also extend the compulsory quarantine in hotels for visitors from Britain to 21 days from two weeks as a more infectious new strain of COVID-19 was found in the country.
Hong Kong reported 53 additional confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, taking its total tally to 8,353.
