Hong Kong clinic gives 21 people expired BioNTech Covid-19 vaccines, second such incident in 3 days
- Health Department inspects UMP Medical Centre in Kowloon Bay and suspends its vaccination service
- Earlier this week, 14 people received doses of expired BioNTech bivalent vaccines from Quality HealthCare Kowloon Bay centre
Nearly two dozen people were given expired BioNTech Covid-19 jabs at a Hong Kong clinic, the Department of Health revealed on Friday, the second such incident in three days.
The department on Friday said it was notified by UMP Medical Centre in Kowloon Bay the day before it had administered the expired vaccines to 21 patients between January 16 and 28 and from March 7 to 28. The jabs were between one and 22 days past the suggested use-by date.
Among them, 18 were bivalent vaccines and three were jabs for the original strain of the coronavirus.
“The department is highly concerned about the incident and immediately requested the medical service provider to submit a report upon receiving the notification in the late afternoon of Thursday,” the statement reads.
Noting the affected people did not report any discomfort, the department inspected the medical centre on Friday morning and suspended its vaccination service.
“The department will continue to follow up to see if the medical centre has implemented relevant improvement measures to decide if their vaccination services can be resumed,” the department said.
Manufacturer Fosun Pharma suggested the bivalent and ancestral strain vaccines should be kept at 2 to 8 degrees Celsius (35 to 46 degrees Fahrenheit ) and be used within 70 days and 31 days after thawing, respectively, the department said.
