BioNTech slots for kids snapped up in hours

Bookings for BioNTech jabs opened on Wednesday for children aged between five and 11, with many of the available slots snapped up in just a matter of hours.

As the vaccine requires a special dilution procedure for children, three community vaccination centres have been designated for kids.

Two of them – Yuen Chau Kok Sports Centre in Sha Tin and the Children’s Hospital in Ngau Tau Kok – will start operating next Wednesday.

The centre at Gleneagles Hospital in Wong Chuk Hang, meanwhile, will come into service on February 24.

Children of this age group should wait 12 weeks after their first dose to get their second jab.

Apart from BioNTech, the Sinovac vaccine is also available to children as young as five.

Meanwhile, the government said a record 78,000 people got jabbed on Tuesday, bringing the city’s vaccination take-up rate to 80.8 percent.