What’s new: Chinese mainland residents will soon be able to get inoculation with BioNTech’s omicron specific messenger RNA Covid vaccine in Hong Kong as quarantine-free travel across the border is set to resume Sunday.
Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., the Chinese marketing partner of Germany’s BioNTech, said Friday that it will start supplying the bivalent Covid shot to the privately run health-care system in Hong Kong. The shot targets the omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5.
The development means nonresident travelers, including those from the mainland, will be able to get inoculation. Fosun Pharma opened an online reservation platform Friday for mainlanders to reserve shots in Hong Kong.
Caixin found that several private clinics will start offering the shots to nonresidents at prices between HK$1,500 and HK$2,000 ($192–$256).
Background: In late December Hong Kong officially registered BioNTech’s mRNA-based Covid vaccines as regularly available treatments in the city, elevating the shots’ previous emergency-use approval. The registration paved the way for the vaccines to become available for nonresidents of the city.
BioNTech’s mRNA shots are the most-used Covid vaccine in the world. Along with a similar shot developed by Moderna, the mRNA vaccines have proved to provide a higher level of protection against the virus compared with shots using traditional technologies.
China hasn’t approved any mRNA shots for use on the mainland despite their availability in the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macao. A rising number of mainland residents traveled to Macao for the inoculation after the city made the shot available for visitors in November.
Mainland authorities are set to reopen the border with Hong Kong Jan. 8 for the first time in three years, dropping quarantine requirements for travelers.
Contact reporter Han Wei (weihan@caixin.com) and editor Bob Simison (bob.simison@caixin.com)
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