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HONG KONG: Hong Kong and Macao discontinued use of Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine on Wednesday (March 24) after being informed of a packaging issue affecting a batch of vials, while emphasizing that they did not they believed there was a security risk.
The strike is the latest blow in efforts to implement mass vaccination programs against a deadly virus that has killed more than 2.7 million people worldwide and hit the global economy.
“As a precaution, the current vaccination should be suspended during the investigation period,” the Hong Kong government said in a statement.
Both Chinese cities said their decision was made after Fosun, the Chinese pharmaceutical company that distributes the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in China, contacted them on the matter.
Vials with lot number 210102 were found to have defective packaging, authorities said.
READ: Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and Sinovac: A Look at Three Key COVID-19 Vaccines
The Hong Kong and Macau statements did not give any details on how the packaging was defective, but both said they did not believe there were any safety concerns.
Authorities said they decided to exercise extreme caution pending their investigation.
Some Hong Kong residents took to social media to say that their appointments for that day had been canceled and that some vaccination centers were closed.
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“I have not lost confidence in the vaccine, but I am quite disappointed because I took the day off,” a man, who gave his last name as Wong, told AFP when he arrived at a blocked center.
Vaccines with lot number 210102 have already been administered to the Hong Kong public.
Authorities said another batch of vaccines with lot number 210104 would be put aside until the investigation is complete.
Despite being a notoriously populated city, Hong Kong has kept infections low thanks to some of the strictest quarantine measures in the world, recording 11,000 infections and 200 deaths since the pandemic began.
Hong Kong began its vaccination campaign last month, but public acceptance has been slow and it is trapped by political unrest.
The city was upset by huge and often violent protests in 2019, to which Beijing responded with a sweeping crackdown on dissent.
As a result, public confidence in the Hong Kong government is low. A recent survey said that only 37 percent of Hong Kong adults planned to get vaccinated.
As of Tuesday, 403,000 people, about 5 percent of the city’s population, have had their first chance.
READ: HSA begins Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine review
Authorities currently offer Sinovac from China and the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
Sinovac received fast track approval despite not publishing peer-reviewed clinical data.
The available data points to an efficacy rate of between 50 and 80 percent, according to studies.
Pfizer says its effectiveness rate is 94% to 95%.
The vaccination scheme was opened to anyone over the age of 30 last week after officials struggled to attract enough seniors and people in priority groups.
Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam previously lamented the tepid enthusiasm for vaccination and accused critics of “tainting” the Chinese vaccine.
On Tuesday, health authorities banned a local clinic from providing vaccines after one of its doctors said publicly that he would choose the Pfizer vaccine over Sinovac.
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