Hong Kong yesterday suspended use of the Pfizer vaccine after its Chinese distributor informed the government that one batch had defective bottle lids.
The government said the suspension was immediate while the matter is investigated by distributor Fosun Pharma and BioNTech, the German company that created the vaccine with US pharmaceutical company Pfizer.
BioNTech and Fosun Pharma have not found any reason to believe the product is unsafe, the statement said.
Photo: Bloomberg
However, vaccinations have been halted as a preventive and safety measure.
The defective lids were found on vaccines from batch number 210102. A separate batch of vaccines, 210104, will also be not be administered.
Macau yesterday said that its residents would not receive the Pfizer shots from the same batch.
The vaccines from the batch comprise a total of 585,000 doses, with the other batch number 210104 holding 758,000 doses, Hong Kong Director of Health Constance Chan (陳漢儀) said.
Although about 150,000 doses from batch number 210102 have been administered in the territory so far, officials told a news briefing yesterday that the vaccines were safe to us, despite the packaging defects, and that suspending the vaccination was a precautionary measure.
Batch number 210104 remains in the warehouse and has not been used.
Chan said that there were more than 40 instances when medical personnel found defective packaging, such as cracks on the vaccine bottles or leakages when the vaccine was diluted with saline before being administered.
None of these vaccines was given to residents and they were thrown away, officials said.
“Fosun has promised to carry out an immediate investigation, so they are going to approach the manufacturer in Germany to look into their plant,” Chan said. “When the vaccines arrive in Hong Kong, they will have a review of the whole logistics chain to see if that’s the cause of the current situation.”
She said that officials are urging manufacturers to give a report as soon as possible to check if the batches of vaccines in Hong Kong can be used, otherwise the manufacturers will have to deliver another batch of shots as soon as possible.
Residents who are slated to receive their second Pfizer dose starting on Saturday should get the second shot administered as soon as possible, if new vaccines arrive in Hong Kong after the recommended 19 to 42-day window following the first dose.
BioNTech could not be immediately reached for comment.
Fosun Pharma said in a filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange that it received notice from BioNTech regarding the packaging defects on Tuesday night, and informed Hong Kong and Macau authorities yesterday to temporarily suspend the vaccines.
The suspension of the Pfizer jab means the only vaccine currently offered to residents is China’s Sinovac.
The two vaccines are the only ones that were offered to residents in Hong Kong.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
A top Vietnamese property tycoon was on Thursday sentenced to death in one of the biggest corruption cases in history, with an estimated US$27 billion in damages. A panel of three hand-picked jurors and two judges rejected all defense arguments by Truong My Lan, chair of major developer Van Thinh Phat, who was found guilty of swindling cash from Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) over a decade. “The defendant’s actions ... eroded people’s trust in the leadership of the [Communist] Party and state,” read the verdict at the trial in Ho Chi Minh City. After the five-week trial, 85 others were also sentenced on
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of