HONG KONG (Reuters) – The Hong Kong government said an initial investigation by BioNTech and Fosun Industrial in Germany into their coronavirus vaccine did not show any “obvious systemic factors” during packaging after the vaccine was stopped in use. city and neighboring Macau this week.
Authorities on Wednesday suspended the use of a COVID-19 vaccine developed by BioNTech citing defective packaging, causing confusion at inoculation centers across the city.
The suspension came at a time when the Asian financial center faced slow acceptance of vaccines due to diminished confidence in China’s Sinovac vaccine and fears of adverse reactions.
In a statement published late on Saturday, the city government said the results of the investigation did not rule out that the situation was “caused by environmental conditions during the long-distance transport process”.
It was not related to the cold chain and logistical management of the vaccine and random testing of intact vials delivered in Hong Kong did not find any leakage problem, he said.
Both Fosun and BioNTech considered vaccines to be without safety risks and the people who received them “need not worry,” the government said.
The remainder of the investigation will focus on “verifying the integrity of the intrinsic properties of the relevant vaccine batches and whether the batches are safe for use”.
The government said it was following Fosun and BioNTech to complete the investigation in a week to allow resumption of vaccine supplies to the public.
The city started vaccinating residents with doses of Sinovac in February and started offering the one developed by BioNTech in March.
The BioNTech vaccine is distributed in Hong Kong and Macau through a partnership with the Chinese Fosun Pharma, while BioNTech has a partnership with Pfizer in markets outside Greater China.
(Reporting by Farah Master; Editing by Daniel Wallis)