Hong Kong Shortens Quarantine Rules for Injecting COVID-19 Vaccine

 The Hong Kong government has relaxed quarantine regulations for international travelers who have received the COVID-19 vaccine. Revised rules regarding boarding and quarantine.

"Travelers who arrive in Hong Kong and have been fully vaccinated can reduce their mandatory quarantine for 7 days," explained the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (HKETO) in Jakarta, Tuesday (25/5/2021).
Indonesia is still in the Group B (High-risk) group. Hong Kong residents from these group countries can get a reduction of quarantine to 14 days.

Visitors must show a record of vasination, and show a negative result of the nucleic acid test within 72 hours of flight departure. In addition, it is also mandatory to show quarantine hotel room reservations in Hong Kong.

If you have not been vaccinated, then the quarantine rule is at least 21 days.

Migrants may not enter Hong Kong if they are in very high risk countries within 21 days of arrival. This also applies if the transit is more than two hours. Countries that are included in this group (Group A1), namely India, Brazil, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines and South Africa.

Indonesia Will Arrival 8 Million Doses of Sinovac Covid-19 Vaccine on May 31, 2021
President Director of PT Bio Farma (Persero) Honesti Basyir confirmed that Indonesia will again receive Covid-19 vaccine shipments from China. As of Tuesday, Indonesia has received a supply of 8 million doses of the Covid-19 Sinovac vaccine in bulk form.

"On May 31, at the end of this month, we will get an additional 8 million doses," said Honesti in a joint hearing with Commission VI of the House of Representatives, at the Parliament Complex, Senayan, Jakarta, Tuesday (25/5/2021).

For information, Indonesia received 8 million doses of the Covid-19 Sinovac vaccine in bulk or raw materials on Tuesday, May 25, 2021. The 13th vaccine arrived at 8.00 WIB at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport.
"Today the arrival of 8 million doses of Sinovac vaccine in bulk form," said Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport.

He said the government always maintains a stock of vaccine availability so that vaccination is on target. He also revealed that until now Indonesia had received the Sinovac vaccine, namely 3 million doses, AstraZeneca which was 6.4 million doses, then Sinopharm which was 1 million doses.

"So with the arrival of the 13th stage this time, namely the Sinovac vaccine as many as 8 million doses, the total number of vaccines is 83.9 million doses in total," he explained.

Utaan Covid-19 Vaccine Doses in Hong Kong Will Be Wasted, Expert Suggestions
Health experts have suggested selling millions of unused COVID-19 vaccines in Hong Kong, or phasing out supply from manufacturers to minimize wasted vaccine.

The suggestion was given because Hong Kong is also trying to donate a COVID-19 vaccine, while pursuing an expiration date that is getting closer.
Nearly 4 million COVID-19 vaccines from Chinese manufacturers Sinovac and Germany's BioNTech have arrived in Hong Kong since February 2021, but about 2 million doses of them are still in storage amid a sluggish vaccination campaign.

Three months after the vaccination program, only about 1.28 million people, or 17 percent of Hong Kong's population, have used their first dose of vaccine.

Meanwhile, some 921,500 have received their second shot of the vaccine.

William Chui Chun-ming, president of the Society for Hospital Pharmacists, believes that Hong Kong faces three options - throw away the remaining vaccine, or donate it or resell it to another country.

Chui, in his personal opinion, suggested that the vaccines be sold to countries that have been badly affected by COVID-19, such as India, Pakistan, Nepal or the Philippines.

"These countries are short on vaccines, not money. We can get money back to buy a second batch of vaccines when they become available in the future," said William Chui Chun-ming, as reported by the South China Morning Post, Wednesday (26/5/2021) .
Meanwhile from an infectious disease expert, namely Dr. Leung Chi-chiu, believes that Hong Kong could ask for a gradual pause in vaccine deliveries to avoid the dilemma of disposing or selling vaccines.

So far, Hong Kong has vaccinated 1.25 million people
Hong Kong has purchased 7.5 million COVID-19 vaccines each from BioNTech and Sinovac - enough to vaccinate an entire population of 7.5 million people.

Hong Kong health authorities have administered about 1.25 million of the nearly 2 million doses of BioNTech vaccine and 953,300 injections of more than 2 million doses of Sinovac vaccine.

BioNTech vaccines must be stored at minus 70 degrees Celsius, and each vaccine must be used within six months.