The following is what the Secretary for Food and Health Prof. Chen Zhaoshi said in a meeting with the media before attending the Legislative Council meeting today (March 24):
Reporter: When did the government actually receive the notification of Fubitel and when did the vaccination center be notified? Why is the message so confusing this morning, some say that it can be vaccinated, and some say it can't be vaccinated? After the authorities themselves receive the vaccine, do they have a random inspection mechanism to check the packaging and efficacy of the vaccine? Have you received any reports in the past few weeks that there is a problem with the vaccine cover?
Secretary for Food and Health: The government received a written notice from Fosun Industrial (Hong Kong) Co., Ltd. Issues related to packaging defects need to be investigated. To be cautious, vaccination must be suspended during the investigation at this stage.
So far, BioNTech and Fosun Pharma have not found any reason to believe that product safety is at risk. However, to be cautious, vaccination with batch number 210102 must be suspended during the investigation period until the end of the investigation. As for another batch of vaccine product No. 210104 in Hong Kong, it must also be sealed and will not be vaccinated temporarily. This is a preventive measure to ensure the safety of vaccination.
In view of the fact that the Fubitai vaccine introduced in Hong Kong belongs to the above-mentioned batches, the community vaccination centers will temporarily suspend vaccination of Fubitai vaccine until further notice. Those who have made an appointment for vaccination with Fubitai vaccination from today do not need to go to the vaccination center for vaccination.
Of course, we are very concerned about the incident, so the Department of Health has now held an emergency meeting with Fosun Industrial (Hong Kong) Co., Ltd. to further understand and follow up the incident. After receiving their notification, we have immediately notified different vaccination centers through the control center of the latest news. Now when the Department of Health and Fosun finish their meeting, there will be further explanations.
Reporter: Will it be predicted how many citizens may be affected? Is it possible that some citizens may have injected the affected batch earlier and have risk problems?
Secretary for Food and Health:
Fosun Pharma told us that in fact they have no reason to believe that the current products have safety risks. However, they found some flaws in the packaging, so they need to investigate. For safety and precaution, we will not vaccinate them again until their investigation is over. At this stage, how many people have been vaccinated up-to-date? I don't have this figure on hand, but I believe that after the Department of Health and Fosun have a meeting later, when there is the latest report, they can be accounted for at that time.