By Farah Master
HONG KONG (Reuters) – Hong Kong temporarily suspended COVID-19 vaccination on Wednesday using two batches of the treatment developed by Pfizer and BioNTech, citing defective packaging, but the government said manufacturers had no reason to believe that security was at risk, and moving was just a preventive measure.
The government said it had received notification from Fosun Pharma Industrial (Hong Kong), distributor of the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine in the financial center and in Macau, that packaging defects were detected in a vaccine batch – number 210102 – related to bottle closure.
“BioNTech and Fosun Pharma have found no reason to believe that product safety is at risk,” said the government. It was not immediately clear how many shots would be affected, but said that the use of lot 210102 would be suspended, as well as that of another lot, numbered 210104, until further notice.
Fosun Pharma did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
On Wednesday, several centers around the Asian financial center were instructed by city officials to stop using the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine, according to warnings seen by residents.
The city started vaccinating residents with doses of China’s Sinovac Biotech Ltd in February, and started offering the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine in March.
The Macau Department of Health said Wednesday that it was suspending production of the BioNTech vaccine in the neighboring special administrative region after discovering a packaging flaw.
(Reporting by the Hong Kong newsroom; Editing by Christopher Cushing and Kenneth Maxwell)