Privileged Few Get Booster Shots

Regina Ip opted to get BioNTech jab for her booster shot

Back in February when Sinovac vaccines were available before BioNTech, pro-establishment lawmakers lined up with their sleeves rolled up to get the jab as a sign of patriotism.

Now it turns out six months later their vaccine has produced zero antibodies and some have lined up again this time to be guinea pigs to see what happens when they get a booster shot.

Ip said she had no detectable antibodies

One of them is Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee, a member of the Executive Council. The participants of the study, being conducted at the Hong Kong Sanatorium and Hospital in Happy Valley, were given a choice of either staying with the same brand of vaccine as the first two shots, or switching to a different one.

She and two other Exco members chose the BioNTech jab, as they said they did an antibody test and none were detected after they had taken the Sinovac vaccine.

According to Ip, the other Exco members who are taking part in the study are Chow Chung-kong, Fanny Law Fan Chiu-fun, Joseph Yam Chi-kwong, Dr Lam Ching-choi, and Wong Kwok-kin.

Lam and Wong both advocated for people to get their third shot, but government pandemic adviser Dr David Hui Shu-cheong questioned the need for booster shots if people are generally healthy.

Hui questioned if healthy people need boosters

While higher antibody levels could help reduce the risk of symptomatic infections, their waning after Sinovac shots was consistent with data previously reported on the mainland, which had found levels were undetectable six to eight months after taking the jabs, he noted.

"They still have T cell responses, which can protect them from death or severe conditions," Hui said.

Healthy individuals whose antibodies have significantly dropped following vaccination should not be given priority for third shots, said Hui.

"Priority should be given to immunocompromised people, such as those who have undergone organ or bone marrow transplant, followed by the elderly," he said.

The six Exco members must be relieved to get booster shots -- all in the name of science, right?

Shocking Claims Condoned

Almost half of all the people in anti-government protests are women

At this morning's weekly press conference, Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said she and her administration had noticed there was a lot of "fake news" on social media and cautioned people to be careful about what they read.

"Everyone of us, including government officials... have to be extremely cautious in ascertaining whether it is accurate," Lam said.

Carrie Lam says Fanny Law's views are her own

If people suspect people have broken the law, they should tell the police, she added.

What about her own advisor on the Executive Council, Fanny Law Fan Chiu-fun, who yesterday went on a radio talk show on RTHK and made the shocking claim that teenage girls were offering sex to frontline protesters, and gave the example of a 14-year-old student who later became pregnant.

"People are free to decide whether or not to believe it," said Law. "Of course, I can trace the origin of the information through a trusted friend's friend who knows the girl, but to reveal more details would be traumatic."

A friend of a friend? Isn't that second-hand information? Why didn't she check with the source to make sure the information was correct or not?

Fanny Law (left) with lawmaker Avery Ng (right) on RTHK

But Law claimed: "We have confirmed this is a true case. I am so sad for these young girls who have been misled into offering free sex."

When Lam was asked about Law's assertions, the chief executive replied: "Those comments are representing her own personal views."

These are highly speculative comments. How can the Hong Kong government allow a senior advisor to the administration to say such disparaging things publicly that may not even be true?

If this is Law's idea of trying to divide protesters, if anything it strengthened their resolution to stick together to unite against a government that seems completely out of touch with its own citizens.

An administration with integrity would have already fired Law from its inner circle, but Lam seems to think it's fine for Law to give her own comments.

Law's comments have only inflamed protesters' resolve

How is this crisis ever going to end when disparaging remarks are made and supported?

 

Quote of the Day: Fanny Law

Fanny Law's metaphor to encourage young people to love China was ridiculed

Politicians are such quirky characters. They love the limelight so they think of interesting soundbites to say to be captured by the media thus ensuring their spot in the history books.

Executive councillor Fanny Law Fan Chiu-fun has probably made her mark with her latest comments on how young Hong Kong people should view their relationship with the mainland.

In an interview published in pro-Beijing Wen Wei Pao and Ta Kung Pao, Law encouraged young people to love and identify with China from the start.

"It's like dating and getting married. Before falling in love, there should be preliminary and in-depth understanding and then a search for common ground," she said.

Basically the close aide to Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying is assuming Hong Kong people would like to love China, which is a fundamentally wrong assumption to make.

Needless to say social media had a field day with Law's comments, with TV Most creating a satirical dialogue between a country vowing its love 'would not change for 50 years' despite the fact its lover, presumably Hong Kong, had 'lost its shape' in the years after the handover.

Other have commented that one would not want to even date China in the first place -- that Hong Kong was coerced into the relationship, or that while a relationship with China is fine, that with the Communist Party of China is a deal breaker.

Perhaps Law wants to go back to the drawing board and think of another, better metaphor...