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Exclusive | BioNTech vaccine: Fosun Pharma says a new shipment is ready for delivery to Hong Kong and Macau, pending results of investigation into defective packaging in the first batch

  • The replacement batch of BioNTech vaccines for Hong Kong and Macau, and the next batch, will be sent pending the results of an investigation
  • The investigation outcome will be announced in the next few days, Fosun Pharma’s chief executive said

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People queue for receive the BioNTech jab at the Hiu Kwong Street Sports Centre in Kwun Tong on 16MAR21. Photo: May Tse

Fosun Pharma, the agent distributing BioNTech vaccines in Hong Kong and Macau, said that a new batch of doses is ready to be shipped, pending the results of the investigation into packaging defects which had halted the cities’ roll-out of the German-made jabs, sending its shares to their biggest intraday percentage gain in seven days.

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The replacement batch of BioNTech vaccines for Hong Kong and Macau, and the next batch, will be sent pending the results of the investigation, Fosun Pharma’s chairman and chief executive Wu Yifang said in an interview on Tuesday. An announcement about the investigation outcome will be made in the next couple of days, he said.

“There will definitely be a new batch of [vaccines] for Hong Kong and Macau, to resolve issues about continuing the vaccination programme,” said Wu.

The third batch of BioNTech vaccines was “already prepared, but we must ensure that the investigation is complete, without any potential uncertainties,” Wu added. “Vaccines are preventive products, and must [adhere to] the highest requirements.”

An undated photo of Wu Yifang, chairman and CEO of Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical Group. Photo / Handout
An undated photo of Wu Yifang, chairman and CEO of Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical Group. Photo / Handout
Hong Kong’s health officials last Wednesday abruptly stopped the city’s BioNTech vaccination roll-out on the advice of the vaccine’s supplier, after the scheme’s frontline staff identified more than 50 defects to vials, including cracks and leaks, as well as stains on their exterior, in the first batch numbered “210102”. About a quarter, or 150,000 of the 585,000 doses in the first batch, had been used so far.
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