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Coronavirus pandemic
Hong KongHealth & Environment

Hong Kong-Singapore travel bubble: will Sinovac’s efficacy against Delta coronavirus variant be the next stumbling block?

  • While city state points to lack of data about vaccine’s worth against new variants, Hong Kong authorities have defended the Chinese-produced jabs
  • Three new imported cases confirmed on Thursday, meanwhile, extending streak without a local infection to 31 days

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A man queues up for a Sinovac jab in Kowloon Bay last month. Photo: Winson Wong
Kanis Leung,Dewey SimandZoe Low
A debate over the efficacy of the Sinovac vaccine is emerging between Hong Kong and Singapore, adding another layer of uncertainty to the long-awaited travel bubble between the two cities.
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Professor Wallace Lau Chak-sing, convenor of Hong Kong’s advisory panel on coronavirus vaccines, on Thursday defended the efficacy of the mainland China-produced jabs, a day after the city state took issue with the lack of data about their effectiveness against the Delta variant.

Hong Kong, where about 701,700 residents have taken two doses of the Sinovac jab, confirmed three imported infections on Thursday – one each from Russia, the Philippines and Britain – marking 31 straight days without a local case. The additions took the city’s overall tally to 11,948 cases with 212 related deaths.

In a separate development, the Centre for Health Protection said on Thursday evening it was investigating a suspected re-positive case involving a staff member, 39, at the Kazakh consulate. He arrived from Kazakhstan via Bangkok on Monday.

Singapore already leaves residents who take the Sinovac vaccine off its tally of inoculated residents. Photo: AFP
Singapore already leaves residents who take the Sinovac vaccine off its tally of inoculated residents. Photo: AFP
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The sample he submitted on Wednesday was positive for Covid-19 at a private lab, but the same specimen tested indeterminate at a Department of Health lab. The centre said he was confirmed as infected in Kazakhstan last month and it was following up with the country’s health authorities.

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