â€‹The COVID-19 Vaccination Programme has been implemented for the 66th day since February 26, 2021.

     So far, about 1 491 900 doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered for members of the public (please see Annex 1). Among them, about 952 100 persons have received their first dose, with about 438 800 persons receiving the Sinovac vaccine and about 513 300 persons receiving the BioNTech vaccine. About 539 800 persons have received their second dose, with about 320 100 persons receiving the Sinovac vaccine and about 219 600 persons receiving the BioNTech vaccine.

     In the last 24 hours ending at 8pm today (May 2), about 37 500 persons have received vaccination and about 19 500 new vaccination bookings have been made online, detailed as follows:

(i) About 4 000 persons received their first dose of the Sinovac vaccine, including about 3 500 persons vaccinated at Community Vaccination Centres (CVCs) and about 500 persons at private doctors and clinics participating in the programme;

(ii) about 4 600 persons received their second dose of the Sinovac vaccine, including about 4 400 persons vaccinated at CVCs and about 300 persons at private doctors and clinics;

(iii) about 11 700 persons received their first dose of the BioNTech vaccine at CVCs, and about 17 100 persons received their second dose of the BioNTech vaccine;

(iv) the overall percentage of people who have received the Sinovac vaccine at CVCs is about 96 per cent; while the overall percentage of people who have received the BioNTech vaccine at CVCs is about 97 per cent; and

(v) about 4 000 persons have made online bookings for receiving their first and second doses of the Sinovac vaccine, while about 15 500 persons have made online bookings for receiving their first and second doses of the BioNTech vaccine.

     In the last 24 hours ending at 0.00am today, there were 10 cases of ambulance transfers to hospitals. Among them, eight persons were discharged, one person was admitted for observation and one person was discharged against medical advice (please see Annex 2).

     As background information, in the last 24 hours ending at 0.00am today, there were 38 cases of stroke or myocardial infarction that required admission to the Intensive Care Unit, Acute Stroke Unit and Cardiac Care Unit of public hospitals. The state of new cases admitted to the wards concerned is provided as a cross reference to enhance fuller public understanding of cases of the kind recorded on vaccine recipients.

     In response to the community's concerns over the requirement for close contacts of confirmed local case of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) with N501Y mutant strain or other variants of concern (VOC) to undergo compulsory quarantine for 21 days, the spokesman for the Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health today (May 2) elaborated further on the relevant arrangements.
 
     The spokesman said, "In view of the local cases with unknown sources of infection involving VOC, the Government has to adopt swift and stringent testing and quarantine measures, with an aim to cutting the transmission chains as soon as possible. The quarantine arrangement is based on risk assessment, the prevailing epidemiology of COVID-19 and the circumstances of each individual case."
 
     As the local cases with mutant strain carrying N501Y and E484K mutations were detected in the building, in view of the higher transmissibility, the CHP considered that the residents of all units on all floors of the buildings concerned could have been exposed to the risk of contracting COVID-19 through sharing of common facilities within the building. Hence it is imperative to carry out prudent infection control and prevention measures. Arranging compulsory quarantine for 21 days for asymptomatic residents under the Prevention and Control of Disease Regulation (Cap. 599A) would be essential to stop the potential risk of spread of the mutant strain into the community. 
 
     According to the latest epidemiological information, COVID-19 infection might have a prolonged incubation period and some VOC cases involving inbound travellers were detected only towards the end of their 21-day quarantine period. The CHP considered that those VOC-related close contacts who have been tested negative in the early phase after exposure might still be incubating the disease. Therefore they need to be put under quarantine for 21 days since their last exposure to the case or last stay in the affected building with cases. For those who are tested positive, they would be admitted to hospitals for further management.
 
     The spokesman explained, "There is 24-hour on-site medical support at quarantine centres, allowing better medical care to close contacts. Our healthcare professionals can provide medical surveillance and primary medical care for them. Quarantine at a quarantine centre protects both the persons under quarantine and the community at large."
 
     For the evacuation of Block 11 of Caribbean Coast, a total of 1 027 residents were arranged for admission to quarantine centres and the Government managed to transfer almost all of them within 24 hours. The spokesman pointed out that being the largest evacuation operation during this epidemic, there would be huge challenges regarding the transfer and the arrangement of accommodation for the residents. The CHP has been working closely with the Civil Aid Service, the Auxiliary Medical Service and the Social Welfare Department to ensure daily necessities could be delivered to the close contacts in the quarantine centres in time.
 
     Regarding quarantine arrangement for vaccinated persons, during the meeting on April 22 by the Scientific Committee on Vaccine Preventable Diseases and the Scientific Committee on Emerging and Zoonotic Diseases under the CHP, joined by the Chief Executive's expert advisory panel (JSC-EAP), members discussed the possibility of exempting close contacts of confirmed COVID-19 cases from the existing quarantine measures, if they are fully vaccinated with COVID-19 vaccines. In view of limited data, and concerns about emerging COVID-19 variants, the JSC-EAP considered that the current quarantine practice on close contacts should continue at this stage until more supporting evidence becomes available.
 
     The spokesman for the CHP said, "In view of the threat posed by the mutant strain, we call on the public for their understanding and co-operation with all the infection control and prevention arrangement as well as anti-epidemic measures, fighting the virus together."

     â€‹The Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) today (May 2) continued to step up patrols at venues under its management, ensuring venue users to abide by the anti-epidemic regulations in order to minimise the risk of the latent transmission chains in the community. 

     The LCSD spokesman said the department today continued to step up inspections, together with relevant departments, at its leisure and cultural venues and gazetted beaches in 18 districts and called on venue users to abide by the rules. Repeated offenders are prosecuted after verbal warnings are ignored. 

     Promotional leaflets as well as venue broadcast and notices were used to urge foreign domestic helpers to comply with the legal requirements during patrols by the LCSD staff. 
      
     As at 4pm today, more than 6 700 verbal advice and four fixed penalty notices were given out during patrols of venues by LCSD staff yesterday and today. 

     The spokesman appealed to venue users to exercise self-discipline and abide by relevant anti-epidemic regulations in order to reduce the chances of virus spreading in the community. Enforcement actions will be taken when irregularities are found. 

      

     The two COVID-19 vaccines authorized for emergency use in Hong Kong have been evaluated by the Advisory Panel on COVID-19 Vaccines, set up under the Prevention and Control of Disease (Use of Vaccines) Regulation, Cap. 599K, that they are safe, effective and of good quality. Current scientific evidence indicates that the benefits of the two COVID-19 vaccines outweigh their risks for use as active immunisation to prevent COVID-19 caused by SARS-CoV-2 virus. The vaccines not only protect individuals from COVID-19 infection, available data also support that the vaccines could reduce the seriousness of the COVID-19 even if infected.

     The Department of Health (DH) has put in place a pharmacovigilance system for COVID-19 immunisation, including receiving reports of Adverse Events Following Immunisation (AEFIs) related to the COVID-19 vaccines used in Hong Kong from healthcare professionals and pharmaceutical industries, and setting up the Expert Committee on Clinical Events Assessment Following COVID-19 Immunisation (Expert Committee) to provide independent assessment on the potential causal link between AEFIs and COVID-19 vaccination. The main purpose of the pharmacovigilance system is to detect potential signals of possible side effects of the vaccines.

     According to the World Health Organization (WHO), an AEFI is any medical occurrence that follows immunisation and that does not necessarily have a causal relationship with the usage of the vaccine. The Expert Committee conducts causality assessments based on the WHO algorithm for suspected serious adverse events.

     As endorsed by the Expert Committee, figures and summaries of clinical events received will be released and updated through the designated website biweekly. When a suspected adverse event fulfilling the reporting criteria of AEFIs involving a death case within 14 days of vaccination is received, it will be announced as soon as possible. When there are obvious medical causes (such as clinical diagnosis and pathological evidence) for certain clinical events including death cases, the healthcare professionals may consider the event not fulfilling the criteria for reporting as AEFIs. These cases would be monitored under the COVID-19 Vaccines Adverse Events Response and Evaluation Programme (CARE Programme) conducted by the University of Hong Kong in partnership with the DH.

     As of April 25, 2021, a total of 11 737 persons were infected with COVID-19 and 209 died of the disease in Hong Kong. Separately, there were about 1 275 300 doses of COVID-19 vaccines administered and a total of 2 131 AEFI reports (0.17 per cent of all doses administered) were reported. A total of 14 death reports (0.001 per cent of all doses administered) with vaccination history within 14 days were received in the same period and none of them had clinical evidence to support the events were caused by the vaccines.

     As of 4pm today (May 2), the DH has received one death case reported as suspected serious adverse event with history of COVID-19 vaccination within 14 days from the Hospital Authority (HA) in the past 24 hours (please refer to Annex). The report did not provide clinical evidence to support that the event was caused by the vaccine. The DH has contacted the HA upon receiving the report to obtain further information to facilitate causality assessment. So far, there is no clinical evidence indicating that the event was caused by the vaccine. The HA will refer the case to the Coroner. Also, the DH will pass the case based on the established mechanism to the Expert Committee for conducting causality assessment.

The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority:

     As at 9am today (May 2), thirteen COVID-19 confirmed patients were discharged from hospital in the last 24 hours. So far, a total of 11 445 patients with confirmed or probable infection have been discharged.
 
     At present, there are 637 negative pressure rooms in public hospitals with 1 184 negative pressure beds activated. A total of 97 confirmed patients are currently hospitalised in 16 public hospitals and the North Lantau Hospital Hong Kong Infection Control Centre, among which three patients are in critical condition, one is in serious condition and the remaining 93 patients are in stable condition.
 
     The Hospital Authority will maintain close contact with the Centre for Health Protection to monitor the latest developments and to inform the public and healthcare workers on the latest information in a timely manner.
 
     The case numbers of the discharged, critical and serious patients are as follows: