Hong Kong: Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Chief Executive Carrie Lam and several secretaries including Teresa Cheng Yeuk-wah (Secretary of Justice) and Matthew Cheung Kin-chung (Chief Secretary of Administration) took their first shot of the Chinese mainland-developed Sinovac COVID-19 vaccines in a live broadcast on Monday afternoon.
Observers said the vaccination of senior officials, including Teresa Cheng Yeuk-wah (Secretary of Justice) and Matthew Cheung Kin-chung (Chief Secretary of Administration, can encourage members of the public to join the vaccination program more actively.
After taking her first jab and resting for about half an hour for medical observation, Lam said at a press conference that the vaccine brings light in the fight against the epidemic.
Most HKSAR secretaries took the shots as well. Local media said Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po did not receive the vaccine on Monday as he was busy preparing for the budget to be announced on Wednesday. He will be vaccinated next week, media reports said.
Edward Yau Tang-wah, secretary for Commerce and Economic Development and Wong Kam-sing, secretary for the Environment, didn’t attend the event either due to other official business. They will take the vaccine at a later date, local media reported.
The first batch of 1 million doses of the Sinovac vaccines arrived in Hong Kong on Friday, and the first batch of 1 million doses co-developed by Chinese company Fosun and German vaccine producer BioNTech will arrive by the end of February.
Authorities said they will launch online reservations for vaccinations on Tuesday, and the vaccination program will start on February 26. The vaccination is free of charge in Hong Kong.
Lam said at the press conference after being vaccinated , she “feels very good.”
Lam thanked China’s central government for supporting HKSAR in its anti-epidemic work, scientists at home and abroad for developing vaccines, and local medical experts for fighting against the COVID-19 outbreak.
She also called on the public to actively sign up for vaccination.
Lam stressed that now was not the time to relax, and she hoped that there would not be a new wave of the epidemic, so that the resumption of businesses and schools could continue.
Many schools were allowed to resume face-to-face instruction as of Monday. So far, about 200 schools in the city have successfully applied for the full resumption of classes.
Lam said that the vaccine brings light in the fight against the epidemic.
– The Daily Mail-Global Times News exchange item
