Unused Shots Pile Up as Mistrust Mars Hong Kong Vaccinations

[andhra_jp]

 Public distrust means even frontline medical workers shy away

They even get a choice between two shots - a Chinese-made one from Sinovac Biotech Ltd., or the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine that’s the most effective in the world.

The situation is making Hong Kong a conspicuous global outlier. 

While other developed economies with strong vaccine supplies such as Germany, the U.K. or the U.S. see vaccine reluctance as a challenge to overcome later in their inoculation drives, Hong Kong has faced skepticism from the start, fueled by a breakdown of communication between the unpopular, unelected government and population.

Vaccine reluctance has been generally higher in the Asia-Pacific region, where early containment success has meant that people don’t fear Covid-19 as much. Hong Kong has seen less than 12,000 cases and 210 deaths since the pandemic began, while peers like Taiwan, Singapore, New Zealand and Australia have been similarly less-affected by the pandemic.

 

[Pitta]