Hong Kong coronavirus cases may peak over next few months amid declining antibodies and high hospitalisation rate, pandemic adviser warns
- Professor David Hui says high chance of another peak occurring between this month and December, possibly overlapping with flu outbreak
- Hui points to 15 per cent positive rate in nucleic acid testing and up to 120 cases a day requiring hospitalisation
Coronavirus cases may peak in Hong Kong over the next few months, a government pandemic adviser has warned, saying vaccine-induced antibodies providing protection against the virus have declined and the daily hospitalisation rate stands at about 120 cases.
David Hui Shu-cheong, professor of respiratory medicine at Chinese University, on Sunday said that the positive rate of nucleic acid testing was 15 per cent based on Hospital Authority data, adding there was a high chance of another peak in cases between this month and December, possibly overlapping with a flu outbreak.
“There are about 100 to 120 cases requiring hospitalisation on a daily basis, with the XBB variant accounting for 98 per cent,” Hui told a TV programme.
“Given that the previous peak occurred between April and May this year and antibodies [from vaccines] tend to decline after about six months, another one is estimated to occur between this month and the end of the year,” he said.
He added that Covid-19 jabs administered in the city did not specifically target the XBB strain, while the third-generation vaccines produced by Pfizer and Moderna approved by the Federal Drug Administration in the United States last month used the sub-lineage XBB.1.5 as their primary antigen.
“After vaccination, there will be high antibody levels against the XBB lineage, as well as coverage against the EG.5.1 and BA.2.86 variants currently circulating overseas,” said Hui, who is also a member of the Centre for Health Protection’s Scientific Committee on Vaccine Preventable Diseases.
The committee will convene a meeting on Wednesday to discuss buying the new generation of vaccines.
