The Government announced that it has purchased 1 million extra doses of the BioNTech vaccine for the third dose of the COVID-19 vaccination. The new batch arrived in Hong Kong today.

Together with the 7.5 million doses that had arrived earlier, 8.5 million doses of the BioNTech vaccine were purchased.

Stringent checking and inspection of the latest batch of the BioNTech vaccine has been conducted in accordance with established procedures to ensure that it complies with the product specifications and that the transportation process follows the relevant cold-chain requirements.

The vaccine will be put in validated ultra-low temperature freezers to ensure its proper storage in accordance with the temperature specified by the drug manufacturer.

The vials for the vaccine are labelled in English and simplified Chinese. It was made by the same manufacturer and filled and finished at the same plant with the same specifications in Germany.

The Government appealed to those who have not received their first and second doses to do so early to protect themselves, their family and the community.