Hong Kong could soon throw away millions of unused vaccine doses Today 02:30 pm JST Today | 02:35 pm JST HONG KONG
Hong Kong may soon have to throw away millions of coronavirus vaccine doses because they are approaching their expiry date and not enough people have signed up for the jabs, an official warned Tuesday.
Hong Kong is one of the few places in the world fortunate enough to have secured more than enough doses to inoculate its entire population of 7.5 million people.
But swirling distrust of the government as it stamps out dissent combined with online misinformation and a lack of urgency in the comparatively virus-free city has led to entrenched vaccine hesitancy and a dismal inoculation drive.
Hong Kong could soon bin millions of unused vaccine doses
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HONG KONG, May 25, 2021 (BSS/AFP) – Hong Kong may soon have to throw away millions of Coronavirus vaccine doses because they are approaching their expiry date and not enough people have signed up for the jabs, an official warned Tuesday.
Hong Kong is one of the few places in the world fortunate enough to have secured more than enough doses to innoculate its entire population of 7.5 million people.
But swirling distrust of the government as it stamps out dissent combined with online misinformation and a lack of urgency in the comparatively virus-free city has led to entrenched vaccine hesitancy and a dismal inoculation drive.
“The whole world is scrambling for vaccines and it is just not right that we can buy a vaccine overnight and we just have it. What we have is probably all we have for the rest of the year.”
Observers have blamed factors including community mistrust in the Hong Kong and Chinese governments, disinformation and misinformation and a lack of urgency from authorities. In March the BioNtech rollout was suspended for about 10 days after the discovery of damaged packaging of vials which had been administered to more than 150,000 people. Health officials said there was no safety risk but the rollout was suspended as a precautionary measure.
Covid-19 vaccine – one man’s trash another man’s treasure
Hong Kong may bin millions of vaccine doses for not enough people signed
Pakistan struggles with shortage of vaccines
May 25, 2021
The coronavirus pandemic has further increased the disparity between the first world and third world countries. While many in the first world have been vaccinated, in the third world many are still awaiting the vaccine. Another case is of those countries that have the vaccine but will be forced to waste them as many people are not signing up for the jabs.
Pakistan has administered 5,843,059 vaccines up till date. However, this only makes up 0.6% people out of the total population who has been fully vaccinated.
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Hong Kong could soon throw millions of unused COVID-19 vaccine doses
Less than 20 per cent of people in Hong Kong have so far chosen to get vaccinated against COVID-19, despite plentiful supplies. (File photo: AFP/Paul Yeung)
25 May 2021 11:57AM (Updated:
25 May 2021 12:42PM) Share this content
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HONG KONG: Hong Kong may soon have to throw away millions of COVID-19 vaccine doses because they are approaching their expiry date and not enough people have signed up for the jabs, an official warned on Tuesday (May 25).
Hong Kong is one of the few places in the world fortunate enough to have secured more than enough doses to innoculate its entire population of 7.5 million people.