The last few weeks has seen a significant reduction in the impact of COVID-19 in much of Europe and the US. There is some uncertainty regarding the relative contributions of lockdowns, natural immunity from infections and immunity from vaccinations to the improved situation. Regardless, it seems reasonable to think that a number of countries are at, or close to, herd immunity. It is likely that there will be a gradual relaxation of current social distancing measures and it is reasonable to assume that life will be much closer to normal in Europe and the US by late Spring or early Summer.
In Hong Kong the fourth wave of COVID-19 infection continues to settle and the government has commenced the rollout of the vaccination program. The situation in Hong Kong is very different to that in Europe and the US, in that we have very low levels of infection but also very low levels of population immunity. In our latest Podcast, Dr David Owens again sat down with Professor Ben Cowling to discuss this dilemma and specifically the role of COVID-19 vaccinations in the normalization of life in Hong Kong. You can listen to the interview here or you can subscribe to our podcasts via the following links on our website, Spotify and iTunes.
Information on the Hong Kong vaccination program can be found on the government website. Currently only Sinovac vaccines are available. OT&P will commence vaccination in the next couple of weeks. We will be allocated a supply of vaccines. All vaccines will be provided by the government and all vaccinations will be free. We will continue to support the Department of Health by assisting in this process. Vaccinations will only be available to eligible groups dependent on age and clinical risk. The Pfizer BioNTech vaccine will be available via government centres in early March. We will continue to update the article on COVID-19 vaccinations on our website. We have also written a new FAQ article addressing commonly asked concerns around COVID-19 vaccination.
Thank you for everyone who registered for our COVID-19 vaccine database. In anticipation of managing what will invariably be a logistical challenge, we have undertaken significant IT development. If you would like to be included in this vaccination database, please register for interest here. We provide the option to review your current vaccination status and will provide further updates by email as we receive further information about the vaccine rollout.
Finally, thank you for the positive feedback over the last year for our Newsletters and Podcasts, we would be grateful for your opinion on any other subjects which you would like to be covered in the future. Contact us here. You can also subscribe to our podcasts via the following links on Spotify and iTunes or by registering here.
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