Chief Executive Carrie Lam today inspected the official launch of the Comirnaty vaccine being administered to people in the priority groups at the community vaccination centre (CVC) at Sun Yat Sen Memorial Park Sports Centre.

She was accompanied by Secretary for the Civil Service Patrick Nip and Secretary for Food & Health Prof Sophia Chan, who are responsible for co-ordinating the COVID-19 Vaccination Programme.

The centre is one of the seven operated by the Hospital Authority (HA). Mrs Lam was pleased to note that it had been operating smoothly and thanked the healthcare personnel and staff working there for helping the Government vaccinate the public.

The Chief Executive also chatted to people who were getting vaccinated and received a positive response to the centre’s arrangements.

The vaccination programme was officially launched on February 26 and more than 110,000 people have received their first vaccination dose so far.

At this stage, people in the 12 priority groups can get vaccinated at 15 CVCs, the HA's 18 general outpatient clinics and private doctor clinics. An additional 12 CVCs will begin operation on March 16 to provide more quotas.

Mrs Lam reaffirmed that the two COVID-19 vaccines currently provided to the public were assessed by experts and approved by the Secretary for Food & Health in accordance with the law for emergency use in Hong Kong, adding that they are safe and effective.

She noted that the Government has also set up a monitoring mechanism, under which experts would review clinical events and explain them to the public at the earliest opportunity.

The Chief Executive again appealed to those in the priority groups to get vaccinated as soon as possible.