Last Call for Sinovac Jabs in HK

Sinovac was the vaccine of choice of mostly pro-Beijing ppl

Remember when vaccines were first available in Hong Kong during the Covid-19 pandemic and there were two to choose from -- Sinovac from China, and Pfizer-BioNTech from Germany? 

Sinovac is an inactivated vaccines, whereas BioNTech is an mRNA vaccine that doesn't use a live virus to trigger an immune response. Instead it teaches the body's cells to make proteins to trigger an immune response by making antibodies to fight the infection when the virus enters the body.

For the most part in Hong Kong, choosing the vaccine fell along political lines -- those who were pro-Beijing got the Sinovac jab, others the latter, though some people refused to get any kind of vaccination because of total mistrust of the government, which to me was mind boggling.

Then CE Carrie Lam chose Sinovac for her jab

In the end the US Center for Disease Control found in a 2022 report that receiving two or three doses of mRNA vaccine resulted in a 90 percent reduction in the risk of being infected with Covid-19 or death. Having three jabs during the Omicron wave gave 94 percent protection.

Hong Kong continued to offer Sinovac, but that offer ends soon as the government has almost finished using up its supply of Chinese vaccines.

The Centre for Health Protection said it would stop offering the Sinovac jab after its current supply expires on October 3. 

"The vaccine supplier confirmed that they will no longer produce the vaccine," the centre said.

Perhaps it's because the vaccine has been shown to not be very effective?

Interestingly the Hong Kong government is still urging those who have not yet been vaccinated this whole time to do so with Sinovac at least, and then get an mRNA vaccine after.

Dr Yuen Calls for Independent Inquiry into Handling Covid-19

How well did Hong Kong handle the Covid-19 pandemic? 

Infectious diseases professor Yuen Kwok-yung is calling for an independent inquiry into Hong Kong's handling of Covid-19 so that the city can better prepare the next time another pandemic comes around.

During a radio program, Yuen explained that after the 2003 SARS outbreak (20 years ago this March!), an inquiry was held, which led to the establishment of the Centre for Health Protection. 

Yuen and his duck mask that made him endearing

The centre has since put more resources into research and this helped to fight against Covid, he said.

Yuen said there was definitely room for improvement in contact-tracing and isolation arrangements during the current pandemic.

"We saw 12,000 to 13,000 deaths. Why don't we conduct a thorough investigation and clarify what we should do in the future? Speaking for myself, if I'm lucky, as an infectious disease expert, I might see a third pandemic during my lifetime. Hong Kong must be prepared for it."

Does Yuen realise the political implications of calling for an independent inquiry and where it will go? If the government agrees to it -- and that's a big IF -- the scope would probably be so limited to ensure the authorities look good.

An independent inquiry is definitely needed -- not only in the medical handling of this pandemic that led to one of the highest death rates in the world, but also the cost from the financial handouts, to the construction of those isolation units that are now collecting dust all over the city.

Hospitals overwhelmed with infected elderlies

How many of those pandemic kits were handed out, that had N95 masks, rapid antigen tests and that Chinese herbal medicine Lianghua Qingwen? How much did that cost? And the PCR tests conducted in the community testing centres. How many vials of vaccines were wasted?

The inquiry could also give insight into the communications between the infectious disease experts like Yuen and the government, and possibly hints if Beijing played a role in Hong Kong shaping its Covid policy.

We await to see the response...

In the meantime, Yuen is suggesting that masks come off at the end of March when the weather gets warmer and the virus has a shorter life cycle.

He warned there could be another surge of Covid-19 and other respiratory disease infections after people take off their masks, but says this is an inevitable part of opening up.

Get boosted in October, November says Yuen

"Once we take off our masks, the situation may get quite serious. But we have already said in February and March 2020 that this virus will stay with us... We have to open up sooner or later, and it's better to open up sooner after enough people are vaccinated," he said.

Yuen said people should get another Covid booster by October and November to prepare for a possible rebound in the winter.

Ah, it's never ending...

Paul Chan Claims No Special Treatment

Look who's back... and ignoring all protocols for returnees

One country, two systems continues robustly in Hong Kong when it comes to its treatment of Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po.

He contracted Covid-19 while in Saudi Arabia, but somehow tested negative on Monday and returned to Hong Kong on Tuesday -- and the Centre for Health Protection did not declare his PCR test on arrival was negative. 

Instead the CHP claimed he was a "recovered case" and waived from doing any quarantine. 

Ho slammed the government for zero consistency

Where did he go? Straight to the Global Financial Leaders' Investment Summit where he addressed the crowd without a mask.

The media was on Chan's case, but claimed he was not handled differently from others at the airport:

"The treatment I have been given was the same as anyone. There's no particular privilege at all," he said, adding he went through Hong Kong's usual pre- and post-flight checks.

Such a high profile case that the CHP didn't seem to scrutinise close enough...

He was in a room full of people and even though he didn't eat with them, he spoke to them maskless!

Ho Pak-leung, the city's leading microbiologist from the University of Hong Kong, slammed the government regarding Chan's case as "failing to comply with a unified standard."

Is Chan's vaccine pass amber? It should be...

"Besides, some unnecessary screening measures towards new arrivals will hinder the process for society to return," he added.

Ho said it was inevitable for the city to soon scrap all entry curbs and go to "0+0", and that the amber health code on the Vaccine pass should be scrapped as well.

This hypocrisy will continue post national security law, where elites can do as they please, while the plebeians are severely punished for any minor infraction.

If there is a wave of Covid-19 cases from bankers in the next few days, we know where it came from...

HK May Scrap Hotel Quarantines Soon

Will more people come to HK if they can monitor at home?

Hong Kong continues to take the tiniest baby steps to open up and is now mulling the idea of scrapping hotel quarantines and having people monitor themselves and avoid crowded places and restaurants for seven days at home.

It is believed Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu was going to announce this during his policy address, but now it seems this plan will be pushed forward to later this month.

Lee's announcement is being moved up

The city logged 7,322 cases and they are going down, including the number of imported infections at 132. There are also suggestions of scrapping travelers having negative PCR tests 48 hours before boarding since they are tested upon arrival.

This would be immensely helpful as it is getting harder to find places around the world to have these PCR tests done, not to mention the exorbitant cost.

The Centre for Health Protection reported there was no spike in cases following the Mid-Autumn Festival that was previously feared, though the number of cases is still around 8,000 a day.

In November the Hong Kong government plans to host an international banking summit and the infamous Rugby Sevens tournament, which is why health experts are suggesting scrapping the hotel quarantine now because no high-flying banker will have time for seven days in a hotel, three of which are in solitary confinement followed by not being able to eat in a restaurant for four days.

One of these experts is Kelvin To Kai-wang, chairman of the University of Hong Kong's department of microbiology.

"There is a higher chance of having severe infection cases in the winter," To said. "It is better to let more people come to Hong Kong in autumn. At least it could lower the burden on the medical sector in the winter."

Hui suggests "0+7"... will the government buy it?

Meanwhile Dr David Hui Shu-cheong says Hong Kong should implement the "0+7" scheme and the incoming travelers should wear electronic tracking wristbands to prevent them from breaking the rules, though he added the vast number of infections are local.

The city should really scrap quarantine altogether, but it doesn't seem to realise that the rest of the world has moved on. Hesitating on hosting major sporting events is not helping with the revitalisation of the city.

But this is what it has come to, a government hamstrung by various stakeholders, not following the science but political influence instead.

China may not even begin to open up until sometime in 2023... does this mean Hong Kong will have a similar timeline too?

Lee Cries Covid Wolf

Lee claims Covid-19 is six times more deadly than the flu

Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu is sounding the alarm, but does anyone care anymore?

He warned Covid-19 is six times more fatal than the flu, but health experts dispute this, saying the mortality rates of the two respiratory diseases are similar, partly because of high levels of immunity.

They estimate the fatality rate for Covid-19 in Hong Kong is at 0.098 percent, which is close to the 0.1 percent for influenza; they said this is because of the city's high vaccination coverage for the coronavirus and natural immunity levels.

Dr Hui says death rate actually much lower

Dr Leung Pak-yin, a former chief executive of the Hospital Authority says the Covid-19 fatality rate of 0.6 percent cited by Lee "failed to differentiate between this current wave and the fifth wave during February to March," he said.

"With the build-up of the immunity barrier in the community, the [Covid-19] death rate in Hong Kong since May has been similar to that of flue," Leung said on social media.

He also said Lee was calculating the fatality rate by lumping all the Covid-19-related deaths together (9,511), instead of focusing on those since May 15 (356 deaths) because Omicron is a sub-variant.

"Analysing data has to be precise. Death rates vary according to the mutation of the virus, and the community infection situation," Leung said.

Professor David Hui Shu-cheong, who is the government's pandemic advisor, agreed with Leung. Dr Joseph Tsang Kay-yan, chairman of the Medical Association's advisory committee on communicable diseases said the recent death rate of 0.098 could be even lower due to under-reported infections, as Omicron is less deadly.

Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan of the Centre for Health Protection agreed the fatality rate was at around 0.1 percent.

Dr Chuang says mortality rate around 0.1 percent

"In the fifth wave after May, the overall death rate is certainly lower than that from December to April. I think that is because many people had been infected before, and more people had got vaccinated," she said.

But Chuang added the mortality rate among elderly coronavirus patients could be higher, but not to the extent suggested by Lee.

Why is he doing this? Perhaps to continue justifying Hong Kong's zero-Covid strategy, or to scare people into getting vaccinated. But those who have managed to travel outside the city this summer can attest that the rest of the world has moved on from Covid-19 for the most part, and that when people are infected, they mostly experience flu-like symptoms, or are even asymptomatic. There is basically nothing to fear.

It seems like Lee is crying wolf which contradicts top health experts' assessments. His lumping all the cases together is a pathetic attempt at massaging the numbers to suit his message. And then it is completely shot down by a bunch of doctors.

Perhaps this is their way of resisting against the government instructions to only speak with one voice -- one voice against the city's leader?

Hong Kong Could See Over 10K Cases Next Week

Au (left) says the public needs to take safety precautions

Hong Kong is seeing a seriously large uptick in the number of Covid-19 cases -- the vast majority of them are local infections, not imported.

On August 25, the city reported 8,579 cases, including 297 imported ones.

Albert Au Ka-wing from the Centre for Health Protection warned the daily number of new infections could soon pass the 10,000 mark next week. The last time it reached 10,000 cases was on March 25 with 10,405 infections.

Police Commissioner Siu recently caught Covid

"There is a quite rapid increase in cases, indicating that the transmission in the community is increasing. There is a need for the general public to take additional precautionary measures in preventing transmission and infection," Au said.

Seems like that advice was not heeded by several senior government officials who have now caught the virus.

They include Deputy Chief Secretary Warner Cheuk Wing-hing and Commerce Secretary Algermon Yau Ying-wah, as well as immigration chief Au Ka-wang, and police commissioner Raymond Siu Chak-yee.

With the number of cases surging, infectious diseases expert Leung Chi-chiu suggested that people cut down on their social activities.

"Now there are up to 5,000 hospital beds [for Covid patients]. If we have say 14,000 cases a day and every day around 500 are admitted to hospital for eight to nine days, our beds will all be occupied," he said.

Leung says socialising needs to be cut down

So basically people are back to being shut in their homes as much as possible in the sweltering heat, unable to meet with friends and family after their mental health has taken such a toll in almost three years.

People need to have some kind of hope, that there is a light at the end of the tunnel instead of constantly implementing more and more severe social-distancing measures.

It's no wonder more and more people are packing up and leaving Hong Kong. While for some it was the national security law, others have had enough of the city's "zero-Covid" strategy that seems to yield even more cases... 

Health Minister Criticised for Pandemic Fifth Wave Response

Chan shed a few tears in her last meeting with Legco

Yesterday at her last meeting with the Legislative Council, outgoing Secretary for Food and Health Sophia Chan Siu-chee shed a few tears as she thanked Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-gnor for having trust in her.

When she leaves office on June 30, Chan will have completed 10 years in the civil service, the last few years undoubtedly the most challenging on her career in having to deal with the response to Covid-19 in Hong Kong.

However, many believe she and her department could have done much more, particularly prior to the fifth wave in getting more elderly vaccinated, which could have mitigated the number of deaths during this period, as well as handed out rapid antigen tests and masks to the vulnerable.

Ho criticised government's response to fifth wave

How can anyone forget the scenes outside public hospitals where elderly patients were left there in the elements because there wasn't enough bed space. Those images were shocking and shameful.

Microbiologist Ho Pak-leung called on the government to apologise to residents for its failure to deal with the city's outbreaks.

On a radio show, he slammed Chan for failing to prepare appropriate Covid responses, even though Hong Kong had long been achieving Covid-zero before the fifth wave of the epidemic started.

Ho said Chan wasted time in not getting more of the elderly vaccinated before the fifth wave, which resulted in a spike in deaths. Ho said this taught Hong Kong a "painful lesson".

He called on the current government to issue a formal apology to its citizens or build a monument in memory of those who died during the city's fifth wave.

While a formal apology would be nice, the monument would be overboard... unless for propaganda purposes...

Seniors lying outside hospitals with no space

Yesterday Hong Kong recorded 1,323 cases, and Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan from the Centre for Health Protection is warning the number could go up to 2,000 soon.

"We are seeing a slow increase, a gradual increase in the number of cases recently and there have been no signs of decreasing in the past few days," Chuang said. "We expect the cases will be going up and may exceed 2,000 in the near future."

But she also noted the number of hospital admissions and severe cases and deaths is stable.

This does not bode well for the upcoming July 1 anniversary... it looks less likely Chinese leader Xi Jinping will come down here for mark the 25th anniversary of Hong Kong's handover to China.

Does this mean Premier Li Ke-qiang is going instead?

The intrigue continues...

Covid Cluster in Kennedy Town

Sai Wan Estate has been locked down after infections found

It was quite a surprise to see the University of Hong Kong's medical faculty posted a warning on Twitter for its staff and students to be aware that there is a Covid-19 cluster in Kennedy Town and to avoid eating and doing any "mask off activities" in the area!

Kennedy Town was where I lived for nine years, a sleepy residential area that soon became hipster when the MTR came in and droves of people came to check out Instagram pier (that unceremoniously closed almost two years ago), have coffee from Arabica and buy bulk food from Slowood.

Instagram pier was a fun photo-op place

When HKU medical faculty issued this warning, it was unusual because the Centre for Health Protection didn't report a growing cluster in this area in Western district. But the health authorities have since locked down an entire housing estate and found 22 infections out of 1,680 people tested so far. 

Yesterday Chuang Shuk-kwan of the CHP said they had found "very high viral loads" in the sewage samples from Sai Wan Estate, especially in its building called West Terrace.

All five blocks are locked down until Friday morning after compulsory testing is completed. 

Hong Kong recorded 294 new cases, and one death.

This contrasts significantly with Taiwan which has just over 90,000 new cases.

I arrived in Los Angeles this morning. To prepare for the flight we complied with all the requisite US government requirements: a rapid antigen test conducted by a medical professional (CAD$90 each) and have the written test result printed out, and a copy of the vaccination record. 

Flying into LA this morning

We uploaded all this information when we checked-in online, though for some reason when I uploaded my Hong Kong vaccination record it could not be done and I was instructed online to show this document at the airport.

Just in case I printed out everything, the attestation that we each tested negative and we were vaccinated (at least two jabs). When we arrived bleary-eyed at the airport at 5.30am, no one asked to see any of this paperwork, none of the airline staff nor US immigration officers...