UK
coronavirus variant likely found in Hong Kong as city secures vaccine
supplies
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[December 23, 2020]
HONG KONG (Reuters) - A new variant of the
novel coronavirus that is spreading rapidly in Britain appears to have
infected two students who returned to Hong Kong from the UK, Hong Kong's
Department of Health said on Wednesday, as the city secured 22.5 million
doses of COVID-19 vaccine.
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Virus samples from the two students, who returned to the Asian
financial hub in December, appeared to match the British variant of
the coronavirus, Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan, head of the communicable
disease branch of the Centre for Health Protection, an agency under
the Department of Health, told a daily press briefing.
More analysis needed to be done to verify the samples, she said.
Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam, at a separate news briefing on
Wednesday, said the government had secured 7.5 million doses of the
Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine and was looking for a fourth source to
ensure adequate supply for the city's 7.5 million residents.
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Residents would be able to choose which vaccine they want to take,
in response to safety concerns, she said.
"I urge the public to get vaccinated for the good of themselves and
their loved ones," Lam said.
Hong Kong has already ordered 7.5 million doses of China's Sinovac
Biotech Ltd's and 7.5 million doses of Fosun Pharma-BioNTech's
vaccines. The first batch of one million vaccine doses from Sinovac
is expected to be delivered to Hong Kong in January.
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![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2020/Dec/23/images/ads/current/graue_20ENCORE_121420.png) Lam said the government had
passed an emergency law to allow authorities to
circumvent the normal regulation procedure to
rush vaccines to residents.
Hong Kong has banned all flights arriving from
the United Kingdom since Tuesday, becoming the
first city in Asia to announce such a halt.
Hong Kong saw a spike in the number of cases at
the end of November, which prompted authorities
to once again shut down dining in restaurants
after 6:00 p.m. local time and close gyms and
beauty salons. The measures are slated to be in
place until at least Jan. 6.
(Reporting by by Farah Master; Editing by
Bernadette Baum)
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