The Politics of Vaccines in Hong Kong

 

Hongkongers keen for vaccine but not Chinese-made ones

 

After last week's announcement that the Hong Kong government had procured 15 million doses of vaccines (two doses per person), but that the first batch of 1 million doses were from Sinovac Biotech and later another 1 million from Pfizer, a lot of residents were not interested in getting the jab following reports that mainland vaccines may not be up to standard.

Sinopharm's vaccine trial in Peru halted

A few days ago there was a story about Sinopharm's vaccine that was undergoing clinical trials in Peru was stopped after a volunteer had difficulty moving their arms.

It's not exactly reassuring to hear about news like that. Apparently these vaccines can't be tested in China because there are not enough positive cases there. Really.

Yesterday Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor blasted Hongkongers who claimed the procurement of mainland-made vaccines was politically motivated, saying Sinovac was chosen following advice from two expert committees of medical professionals.

"Just like all our other anti-epidemic works, there was malicious spreading of rumours, people stigmatizing and politicizing the vaccine procurement, while they quoted unidentified persons with negative comments," she said Tuesday. 

1 million doses of Sinovac vaccine will be in HK

But some residents retorted that if she and other senior government officials were injected with the Sinovac vaccine and they exhibited no serious side effects after two months, then perhaps they too would be willing to be vaccinated.

So while the government has done its best to procure vaccines, trust in the authorities has eroded so much in over a year that Lam and her administration have lost all credibility -- especially at a time like this. Everything has become politicized to the detriment of public health.

One solution? Pay volunteers to take the vaccine.

DAB lawmaker Leung Che-chung suggested at a Legislative Council health services panel that the government pay each volunteer HK$5,000.

"The government is being criticized for giving HK$5,000 to some people who are infected. Those who are infected are awarded. What about those who get vaccinated voluntarily?" he asked.

DAB lawmaker Leung

"If you don't have any initiative to motivate people to receive jabs, it may end up like your universal community testing program in September, when only one million or so people joined. It will be the end of Hong Kong, he said.

Health Secretary Sophia Chan Siu-chee said the government will carry out promotion and educational work to dispel any rumours around the safety of the vaccines.

But really, isn't it most effective way to prove the safety of the vaccines is for these senior government officials to get the jab first and see what happens?

However the government doesn't seem to want to go down that route. 

At the same health services panel, government adviser and respiratory medicine expert David Hui Shu-cheong said he expects the Phase III clinical trial results of the Sinovac vaccine will be out next Wednesday.

In meantime the stalemate continues.