Cases Coming Down, Anti-Epidemic Kits Arriving

Lam presenting the anti-epidemic kits at the press conference

I'm hearing from many friends and colleagues about their experiences of contracting Covid-19 and many have no idea where they got it from.

Some said they had stayed home most of the time, only going out for groceries and other supplies. As all of them are vaccinated (Sinovac or BioNTech), many reported the sore throat was the worst part of having Covid, as some didn't even have a fever, but flu-like symptoms such as aches and pains. 

It took on average about eight days or so before they became negative, but the whole experience especially in the beginning left them exhausted and they had to rest a lot. 

People putting together anti-epidemic kits

One says since her recovery about three weeks ago, she feels like her lung capacity is not like before, while another reported losing his sense of smell and taste and it has taken a few weeks for it to return; that really worried him as he enjoys not only his food but wine too.

All these people have experienced Covid in the last few weeks and it is only now that the Hong Kong government has announced that it will distribute anti-epidemic packs to every household starting from next month and hopes to complete the deliveries within a week.

Each pack contains 20 rapid antigen tests, 20 KN95 masks, and Chinese medicine from across the border.

"Things inside are mainly resources the central government gave Hong Kong in support, to show their motherland's care and support for Hong Kong compatriots," acting home affairs minister Jack Chan Jick-chi told a press conference.

He said the packs will be handed out through the Housing Authority, building management firms, the Heung Yee Kuk and volunteer groups.

And if anyone doesn't get a pack, they can get one from collection points that will be set up later, Chan added.

Where is Hong Kong's Lion Rock spirit? 

While it's nice to know the central government cares for Hong Kong residents, how come we are only getting these supplies now when at least half the population has already been infected with Covid-19?

This would have been helpful at least three weeks ago when the number of cases were rising exponentially and items like rapid antigen kits were hard to find or very expensive. Now they can be bought at around HK$30 (US$3.83) for one test. 

But yes, we should be grateful, like Hong Kong government and health officials who reiterate their thanks over and over again to Beijing for all the assistance.

Whatever happened to the Lion Rock spirit and Hongkongers self-subsisting?

Probably not part of the "one country, two systems" mandate...

Today there were 10,401 infection cases -- the lowest drop in a month, while the number of deaths recorded in the past 24 hours was 162, and 30 backlogged.

Get Jabbed or Risk Serious Covid Infection, Says Expert

Yuen warns everyone needs to get vaccinated against Covid-19

Infectious disease expert Dr Yuen Kwok-yung believes some 2.5 million people have been infected with Covid-19 since the fifth wave began in late December and projects the caseload will drop to under 1,000 a day in the coming weeks.

The government advisor on the pandemic warned "eradication of the coronavirus will not happen," and urged those who still hadn't gotten jabbed to do so. 

Yuen even went so far as to suggest elderly people should get the German-made BioNTech vaccine rather than the Chinese-made Sinovac one, as the former is more effective at neutralising the Omicron variant, though he agreed everyone should have the freedom to choose which jab to take.

Most vulnerable are elderly not yet jabbed

Finally a medical expert has come out to recommend one over the other, even though the government says both are effective...

He also said the city needs a 95 percent vaccination rate in order to prepare for the next wave of infections.

"The eradication of the coronavirus will not happen. The virus will be with us, and there may be another mutant in the future," Yuen said, noting the city's so-called vaccine pass should also be expanded to cover public transport.

Now it is used to get into shopping malls, restaurants, hotels and hair salons.

While Yuen even called for the easing of restrictions in restaurants and having places like gyms reopened, and flights to Hong Kong resumed, Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor would not entertain these suggestions, hinting the city needs to reach "dynamic zero-Covid"...

Who knows? Maybe she will change her mind tomorrow on Monday when she will release the outcome of the "interim review" of social-distancing measures and border control measures.

Yuen suggests vaccine passport for public transit

Today the number of cases dropped further to 14,145, though the death toll is still high at 205, and another 41 backlogged. Hong Kong now has a total of 5,896 deaths since the start of the pandemic, the vast majority of them in the fifth wave.

The authorities cannot vaccinate the elderly fast enough, and on top of it Lam refuses to mandate all seniors must be jabbed... 

And with that kind of decision, it's going to take a while for the fifth wave to be under control...

Over 200K Register their Positive Tests

Those who test positive from RAT can now register online

Finally the Centre of Health Protection's website for people to register that they tested positive using rapid antigen tests was launched at 6pm today and within hours over 200,000 have done so.

While the CHP stresses this is a voluntary exercise, thousands of people have registered because they may be living in spaces where they cannot isolate, or are with family members and are too scared to infect them.

When they registered they had to give their personal details, as well as those of their household members, their symptoms and the condition of the others in the home. 

CHP will arrange isolation quarters for people

They also have to upload a picture of the RAT showing the positive result. And then health authorities will determine if they need to go to hospital or if their symptoms are mild to recover in community isolation facilities.

Registered users can also get a certificate of their infection from CHP so that it can be given to their employers to be able to take sick leave.

The CHP said today that only those who tested positive today should register, while those who found out they were positive from February 26 to March 5 could register later, with March 14 being the deadline to avoid overloading the system.

Today there were 25,150 cases logged, and 161 people died in the past 24 hours, another 119 who died were from backlogged cases. The death toll so far is now 2,287, the highest in the developed world. 

As if that wasn't tragic enough, two children aged four and eight died with underlying conditions. Both had received one jab of Sinovac. They will be included in tomorrow's death count.

Chan (left) had not date for consumption vouchers

A friend suggested that because of the past two years children have been wearing masks everyday and not exposed to as many germs as before, let alone the flu, perhaps their bodies were overwhelmed when they were infected with Covid-19. 

Meanwhile Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po gave an uneventful press conference announcing details of the electronic voucher, as another HK$10,000 will be doled out to 6.3 permanent residents 18 years and older, and new migrants from the mainland.

However, he stopped short of giving the exact date when the exercise would start, citing the pandemic, and yet wanting to dole out money soon to help businesses. 

"Because of the pandemic situation, many shops' operations have been interrupted. That also applies to other stakeholders and operators involved in this particular consumption voucher project. That's why, to be prudent, we're refraining from giving a specific date," Chan said.

The four options to collect and use e-vouchers

"We hope to do it as early as practically possible, but it really depends on the circumstances... I think it is important for us to do sufficient back-end work, with the system properly tested."

What is there to test? Practically everyone who registered the first time haven't changed their details unless they have left Hong Kong. 

Nevertheless, when reporters asked if the e-vouchers would instead be available in cash for those who would find it more useful, Chan said no, things would be the same. Nor was there a condition of getting the jab before receiving the payout. 

So where is the incentive to get people inoculated? Again there is no benefit to being vaccinated, and yet the city is going through the worst Covid-19 wave now.

It boggles the mind...

Government Officials Looking Busy

Mainland expert team (in maroon) seeing things done in HK

For days Secretary for Food and Health Sophia Chan Siu-chee was no where to be found, publicly that is.

She finally emerged today, apparently busy showing around a mainland epidemiological expert delegation on the third of their five-day trip here that was documented in a press release.

Chan promised tracking every confirmed case

They visited the Contact Tracing Office which is under the Department of Health, and then also the Environmental Protection Department where officials explained its work on environmental transmission of the virus within buildings, while the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department talked about the requirements for indoor ventilation systems in government buildings, and guidelines for improving air quality indoors.

But perhaps most surprising in the press release was Chan's declaration: "The Government is in a race against time with the highly transmissible Omicron mutant strain. In order to contain the epidemic, we have to trace the close contacts of every confirmed case as soon as possible and conduct environmental investigation rapidly."

Uh... does she know there are currently 30,525 active cases?

Meanwhile her colleague Secretary for Labour and Welfare Law Chi-kwong is upset that Hong Kong residents were crowdfunding to help pay for the fines that foreign domestic helpers were getting from the police for allegedly not social-distancing to two people in public spaces. Last Sunday it was reported 17 fines of HK$5,000 each were handed out.

Police swarming domestic helpers at Tamar

The crowd-funding page had received over HK$100,000, but Law said he would ask the Justice Department to look into whether legal action needed to be taken.

"You may have good intentions, but we can't rule out that you are maliciously obstructing our whole anti-epidemic effort. Because you are helping a big group of foreign domestic workers to congregate, to violate the gathering limit, [this] will affect the epidemic, and affect many families," he said. "We must not be soft on this."

Definitely. As his boss Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said, "No mercy".

As a result, the organiser of the crowd-funding page had to stop accepting donations.

"Upon advice, we have decided that we should not proceed to pay the fines of the group of domestic helpers who received fixed penalties on Sunday, 13 February 2022, and have closed the fund. All sums collected will be returned to the original donors through the website."

Today there were 6,063 cases recorded, and 15 deaths with the age range between 45 to 93 years old, and only about two were vaccinated.

C'mon people! Free protection right here!

Another statistic that might persuade people to finally get vaccinated: in this fifth wave there have been 46 deaths so far. Of those, 40 were not vaccinated. Of those who were jabbed, three who died had had two doses of Sinovac, two had one dose of Sinovac, and one had two doses of BioNTech.

Why doesn't the Centre for Health Protection emphasise this to prove the point that people need to get vaccinated?!

Covid-19 Cases Continue to Surge

People waiting in long lines to be tested for Covid-19

There was more shock today to see Hong Kong log another record breaking 1,325 cases today and over 1,500 preliminary positive, which means there could be close to 2,000 cases tomorrow.

Chuang (left) announced 1,500 preliminary cases

If this is not horrifying enough to get people to get vaccinated, I don't know what else to say.

In the last few days there have been some elderly deaths related to Covid-19, practically all were not vaccinated, or had one jab. Unfortunately the Centre for Health Protection does not disclose whether those inoculated had Sinovac or BioNTech; the health authorities will only say both are effective in producing antibodies... 

But there was also a four-year-old boy on Yuen Long who died after having a fever since February 9 and vomited before he passed out and then died. It turns out now from his autopsy that he also had Covid-19.

Lee leads a delegation to Shenzhen tomorrow

Tomorrow Hong Kong and mainland officials will meet in Shenzhen to discuss how to battle Omicron, with the strong possibility of setting up a makeshift hospital. Some people on Twitter are suggesting Hong Kong International Airport's third runway that is being built now be the site, since there aren't anymore flights coming in or out.

Chief Secretary John Lee Ka-chiu is leading the delegation that includes the secretaries for security, health mainland affairs, and transport and housing. 

Hundreds of Cantonese-speaking medical and lab personnel have already come to Hong Kong to help process mass testing.

"The first two batches of colleagues, a few hundred of them, already crossed the border into Hong Kong last week. We gave priority to those who can speak Cantonese, as they will need to interact with Hong Kong people," a Guangdong health official said.

He added these people were mentally prepared to be in Hong Kong for a long stint, as they could not return to the mainland without having completed along quarantine.

How about using third runway for Covid hospital?

It makes being sent to the city sound like a hardship posting...

Fifth Wave Persists in Kwai Chung

100 local Covid-19 cases were logged in Hong Kong today

It is disheartening to see another triple-digit count of Covid-19 infections in Hong Kong today, 100 new cases related to the Kwai Chung housing estate. So far 334 cases are related to 12 of the 16 housing blocks here. 

Residents there are concerned that some may have become infected just from waiting in line to get tested or being in the elevators, let alone all the rubbish left strewn around.

It seems the situation there is also mishandled, or is the system overwhelmed and not enough staff?

Testing continues in Kwai Chung housing estate

A resident tested preliminary positive on Tuesday morning and she and her infected youngest son still hadn't been sent to the hospital by 3pm on Wednesday -- 35 hours after receiving an SMS message with the results.

The two had already developed symptoms like coughing and a fever, she could only take painkillers to relieve her symptoms, while her husband and two older sons were not infected. She and her youngest son are isolating in a bedroom, but they still have to share the bathroom with the rest of the family, so she was worried about transmitting the virus to them.

"Officials gave me multiple calls at 5pm [on Tuesday] and told me I will be sent to hospital and my husband and sons to Penny's Bay... But we still do not know when we can leave our home," she said. "They said they were arranging it for us, and said it was manpower issues."

There were concerns of poor waste management

Not a good excuse when Omicron is so contagious... and Hong Kong is insistent on its "zero-Covid" policy.

Meanwhile there are concerns that China may not open the border with Hong Kong until 2024 which has shocked a lot of people. 

However, it has been proven that Sinovac vaccines only have a 51 percent efficacy in preventing symptomatic disease, and its effectiveness wanes after six months. Meanwhile a University of Hong Kong study has found Pfizer BioNTech has nearly 10 times the average level of antibodies compared to Sinovac, 

But China doesn't want to buy proven mRNA vaccines from overseas and is developing its own and then will vaccinate its population -- again before even considering lifting its border restrictions.

By 2024 what will Hong Kong be like? Can it even financially survive to that point without any foreign tourists and businesspeople and investment coming in?

Earlier we were hearing November 2022, but another two years of this will be too much for many people to bear.

China is developing its own mRNA vaccines

A friend has poured HK$13 million of his own money into a bar that he will open this Friday during social-distancing restrictions. He has renovated a space complete with a stage, special lighting and of course a good sound system.

But he can only open it till 6pm.

How is he ever going to make back his HK$13 million?

Despite Warnings Crowds Flock to Flower Markets

This afternoon Mongkok people were busy buying flowers

It's ironic that the Hong Kong government cancelled the Lunar New Year fairs, open-air markets selling flowers, snacks and festive decorations when instead people flocked to the flower market in Mongkok today.

Secretary for Food and Health Sophia Chan Siu-chee said yesterday it was a tough decision to make to cancel the fairs.

Chan says cancelling fairs was a difficult decision

"From a health perspective, we want to control the epidemic as soon as possible so we cannot hold large gatherings," she said.

However, judging from the hordes of people in Mongkok's flower area known as fa hui, it perhaps would have been better to hold the fair anyway.

"How are they supposed to do crowd control in the middle of the road? Why can't we just set up the fairs with social-distancing measures and vaccine bubble requirements?" asked a 62-year-old mandarin plant vendor surnamed Leung.

"It's a big headache. We were all looking forward to selling our produce at the fairs, but now we have to make last-minute changes on how to distribute tens of thousands of mandarin plants."

What a logistical nightmare.

In the meantime the good news is that there were only five new cases of Covid-19 recorded, yesterday there were nine. 

Children can get vaccinated as early as next week

Children as young as five can get the Sinovac vaccine from next week, while those wanting the Pfizer BioNTech one will have to wait until after Chinese New Year.

One health expert is calling for a review of coronavirus measures, saying perhaps the use of partition boards are not helpful in terms of air flow and that tables should be more spaced apart.

Small eateries cannot place tables 1.5 metres apart and instead use partitions as a bid to be able to have more customers, but Dr Gabriel Leung of Hong Kong University says the partitions could block ventilation. He also adds when dine-in services resume, perhaps restaurants could open until 9pm... 

Meanwhile my relatives still refuse to get vaccinated even though that will mean not being able to dine in restaurants if they don't have at least one jab when the social-distancing measures are lifted.

"Then we just won't go to restaurants," she said. 

Maybe partitions aren't a good thing anymore?

While they often eat at home for dinner, they frequent eateries like cha chaan tengs and sometimes have dim sum for lunch, but in the next few weeks they won't be able to do it at all. There will also be a push later for people to have two jabs in order to enter restaurants. Then what?

"We'll see when that happens," she replied.

Completely impractical and irrational... but then again so is this government that is making out Omicron to be a deathly virus and refuses to live with the reality that Covid-19 is here to stay...

Zhong Nanshan Urges China to Learn mRNA Vaccines

Zhong says China can learn to mix and match vaccines

China's top disease expert says the country needs to learn from the West about advanced mRNA vaccine technology, countries should work together, and explore how to mix and match vaccines.

Respiratory scientist Zhong Nanshan was speaking at the Greater Bay Science Forum in Guangzhou on Saturday.

"We should learn about the good things in other countries, such as mRNA vaccines. They have spent years on the research and managed to develop mRNA vaccines [for the coronavirus] in just a few months," Zhong said.

mRNA vaccines teach immune system to fight virus

"The urgency of the disease has accelerated the work in this regard. We should learn [from other countries] aspects such as the technology and delivery mechanism [of mRNA vaccines]."

China originally had reservations about mRNA vaccines but is now developing its own, though late stage trial data has yet to be released.

There is also no news about whether China's drug regulator will approve the mRNA vaccine by German company BioNTech, which has signed a deal with Fosun Pharma to distribute and produce the jabs for greater China.

"In other countries, there are mRNA vaccines and vectored vaccines and there aren't too many choices. In China, we have protein subunit vaccines [like Sinovac that don't contain live pathogens]. If mixing and matching vaccines can yield better results, then we should not feel uneasy about it. We can run together and work together in this regard," he said.

Over 82 percent of China's population vaccinated

Zhong said international cooperation was also required in other areas, such as tracing the origin of the coronavirus and transmission routes.

This need was highlighted by the emergence of the Omicron variant, and the many unknowns about its behaviour and origin," he said.

So far China has fully vaccinated 1.17 billion people, or 82.5 percent of the population. More than 120 million booster shots have been administered, according to the National Health Commission.

Chinese Expert says Covid Already Adapted to Humans

Guan Yi warned Covid-19 would be 10 times worse than Sars

China has one voice of reason in the Covid-19 pandemic -- but his expert opinion goes against President Xi Jinping's zero tolerance goal.

That's because scientist Guan Yi, whose work helped averted a second Sars outbreak in 2004, says zero-Covid will not succeed because the virus has already adapted to humans and cannot be fully eliminated.

He said during an interview with Phoenix TV that China should instead focus on vaccines and test the population's immunity level after vaccination to determine which jabs to administer. Guan is the director of the State Key Laboratory of Emerging Infectious Diseases at Shantou University in southern China, which runs a lab in partnership with the University of Hong Kong.

He says the virus has already adapted to humans

Almost 80 percent of China's population has been vaccinated and they have already begun administering booster shots and inoculating children.

However, there have been sporadic outbreaks that have spread to at least 20 provinces and regions. On Monday there were 43 reported new local symptomatic cases as well as 19 imported and 74 asymptomatic infections after days of mass testing and quarantine in multiple areas.

"Local governments are adopting zero tolerance to these scattered cases," Guan said. "But if that remains the case, I think our economy will collapse... I think there is no chance if we set a goal to eliminate all cases.

"Just like influenza, this virus already has a foothold in mankind and it will stay with us for the long term -- it is in fact, whether we like it or not. This virus has already fully adapted itself in humans.

"We should not declare victory over this virus too early, or we would be underestimating its impact on mankind."

Vaccines should be tested for antibodies

Guan explained the Sars outbreak was stopped in 2003 because it had not yet fully adapted to humans. He played a key role in identifying civet cats as they intermediate host of Sars. In January 2020 he told news website Caixin the then newly emergent coronavirus would be 10 times worse than Sars.

China should have the courage to find out its population's antibody level after vaccination, instead of devoting so much of its resources to testing to identify positive cases, he said.

"What is the level of [neutralising] antibodies induced by vaccines and how long can it last?" Guan said. "Only by [establishing that] can you determine the effectiveness of a vaccine. We also have to find out how long immunity can last after boosters, otherwise it could be possible that the antibodies wane before the winter finishes because the drop in antibodies may outpace the speed vaccines are distributed."

In Hong Kong it has been determined through antibody testing that people injected with Chinese-made Sinovac hardly have any or do not have any antibodies to fight Covid-19, let alone the variants. 

A few months ago Ip got Pfizer/BioNTech booster

Lawmaker Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee was one of those tested to have found to have no antibodies and immediately got a Pfizer/BioNTech booster.

Guan says vaccine makers have a responsibility to update the public about their vaccines' effectiveness against different variants. 

"If a vaccine is not effective, we should remove it [from the vaccine program]. If we don't have sufficient understanding... we don't have the [chance] to make improvements, especially when vested interests are involved," he said, in a veiled reference to pharmaceutical companies.

His reasoning is sound, and hints that China will have to live with Covid-19, but will Xi? Will the President take Guan's expert opinion into consideration, or force him to submit to his zero-Covid strategy?

We will be watching.

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?

Hong Kong Extends Vaccination Program

More people want to get vaccinated which is a good sign...

Now that stragglers are finally getting vaccinated, the Hong Kong government has decided to keep its community vaccination centres open for another month, until October 31.

"The demand for Covid-19 vaccination has increased recently. Should the vaccination progress be maintained at the current pace or increase, it is likely that 70 percent of the eligible population will at least have had their first dose of a vaccine by the end of September," a government spokesman said Friday.

Dr Leung wants more seniors to get the jab

That would mean the city would have to maintain a rate of at least 30,000 jabs per day.

Senior government officials have hinted the only way to re-open the border with the mainland is to increase inoculation rates. This week Hong Kong reached a milestone of half the population with at least one jab. 

While the community vaccination centres which administer the BioNTech vaccine will open till the end of October, they will be whittled down to 26 instead of the current 29 come September 1. 

Those wanting Sinovac jabs can go to the Hospital Authority's 26 outpatient clinics that will also be extended till October 31.

In addition, a shipment of BioNTech jabs -- about 956,000 shots -- arrived in Hong Kong today from Germany. 

Maybe more people are getting a jab to win a flat?

Respiratory medicine specialist Dr Leung Chi-chiu said it made sense to continue operating the community vaccination centres because of demand. But he warned there were key demographics such as the elderly who are 60 years old and above who still needed to get vaccinated, as their vaccination rate was only 20 percent.

Maybe people are keen on entering the numerous lucky draws and so they are now getting vaccinated...

Typical Hong Kong.

Finally Getting on the Vaccine Bandwagon

People lining up for jab at the community vaccination centre

 

Some of my friends finally got their first vaccine jabs recently. One backed out and had to reschedule, another had nightmares the nurse would not inject him with the vaccine but with an air bubble instead. 

A record 70,570 people got inoculated today

It turned out to be unfounded and both are doing well so far and will get their second jab in the next two weeks.

It seems more and more people are FINALLY getting on the bandwagon. Today was a record day in the number of people getting the jab at 70,570.

More people are choosing the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine over Sinovac because of its higher counter of antibodies, though there are still others who would prefer getting the Chinese-made vaccine in their arm even though many places don't recognize it as a good enough vaccine.

The rush may also be because the community vaccination centres will close in two months.

There is a surge in bookings to get jabs finally

Officials predict by October 70 percent of Hong Kong's population will be vaccinated with at least one dose. 

People are finally understanding that really there is no other way out of this pandemic except by getting vaccinated...

Perhaps better late than never?

Pandemic Woes Continue

Interesting vaccination loopholes pop up as incidents happen

 A few months ago it was discovered that people in Hong Kong signed up to get vaccinated in one place but showed up at another (and got a different vaccine).

This man went to the wrong centre and wrong jab

Now there's a case of a 30-year-old Singaporean man who was inoculated with the Moderna vaccine in his home state, came back to Hong Kong where he works and got two BioNTech jabs so that he could have a local record of being vaccinated in order to go to bars.

Hong Kong authorities have warned they may prosecute the man for his "extremely selfish and irresponsible" behaviour.

Health experts also believe getting four jabs is excessive and could have harmed his health. The incident also revealed a loophole that healthcare workers at the vaccination centre did not ask if he was inoculated overseas. 

Are you ready for pandemic traveling to Europe?

But why would anyone think to ask that question when the vast majority of people have not left Hong Kong in over a year and a half?

There were also concerns that those to administered the jab to him would be in trouble for wasting vaccine resources. This is also excessive, considering there are more than enough vaccines going around since many people still don't want the jab.

It's a curious case and crazy desperation on the Singaporean's part to have a drink in a bar.

Meanwhile there are some people who are so desperate to travel now that a small tour group has flown to Europe with a tour guide. They all did the requisite antibody test and will be in hotel quarantine when they arrive back in Hong Kong.

A small Hong Kong tour group flew to Europe

"It's the first tour package we have had since late February last year when the coronavirus pandemic spread, and borders closed everywhere," said Miramar Travel general manager Alex Lee Chun-ting.

He said the company received more than 30 inquiries over the past few days on arranging private travel plans.

"After being stuck in Hong Kong for more than a year, many avid travellers are itching to get out," Lee said. "But now they're looking for experiences away from city centres, they want to stay in boutique hotels instead of chain hotels, and they also want to be closer to nature."

Tours advertised on the Miramar Travel website are priced from HK$12,000 to HK$23,500 (US$1,545-US$3,035) -- about 30 percent more than usual and visiting Germany, Italy and the UK.

Travelers are interested in being closer to nature

However Dr Leung Chi-chiu, a respiratory medicine specialist, urged Hongkongers to avoid leisure travel as the Delta variant had spread across Europe, Britain the United States and Southeast Asia, warning returnees may bring the mutation into Hong Kong.

"Based on how the Delta variant has spread, we can't determine the countries which adopted a 'live with the virus' approach have been successful at this point," he said.

Indeed.

More Reasons to get BioNTech Jab

More evidence shows BioNTech more effective than Sinovac

 

If there was more reason to get inoculated, a new study shows that those who had taken the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine had 10 times more antibodies than those who got the Sinovac jab, who generated "similar or lower" than naturally occurring ones seen in recovered patients.

The study by the University of Hong Kong and published in Lancet Microbe, suggested perhaps those who received the Sinovac vaccine could get a BioNTech booster shot to protect against Covid-19.

Cowling is one of the authors of the HKU study

Experts say higher levels of antibodies detected seem to correspond with long-lasting and stronger protection against infection.

One of the authors of the paper, Professor Ben Cowling, said that if BioNTech booster shots are offered, those who took Sinovac should be first in line to get the vaccine. He added they may need to get the shots sooner as he was concerned antibodies may not be detectable in those people after three to six months.

He dismissed suggestions that the Hong Kong government should not have purchased the Sinovac vaccines, saying having a vaccine was better than none, and that vaccines like Sinovac had saved many lives around the world.

"If there's a choice between not getting vaccinated and getting Sinovac, it's definitely much, much better to get Sinovac because there is protection against infection and there's a high level of protection against severe disease," he said.

Cowling says Sinovac is better than no vaccine

"In Hong Kong, when we're thinking about the alternatives, I would advise if you can get the BioNTech vaccine, get the BioNTech vaccine. I've said that all along, because it's a more effective vaccine, gives a higher protection of vaccine tat will likely last much longer.

"But if for some reason you can't receive the BioNTech vaccine, or there's another reason you don't want to get the BioNTech vaccine, still it's better to get the Sinovac vaccine than to not get vaccinated."

Hope that scientific reasoning will inspire more people to get vaccinated -- preferably with BioNTech.

So far over 36.9 percent of the population has had at least one jab, and just over 26 percent are fully vaccinated.