Tam Yiu-chung gets China jab, says he feels fine

Hong Kong’s sole delegate to the National People’s Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC), Tam Yiu-chung, said on Thursday that he has been vaccinated against the coronavirus with a Chinese jab.

Tam, who is Beijing for an NPCSC meeting, said he was offered a Sinopharm shot on Wednesday, adding that he has not been experiencing any side effects.

The Sinopharm jab, which is said to have an efficacy rate of 79 percent, was the first vaccine to be approved on the mainland.

During a video call broadcast on Facebook, Tam told his DAB party-mate Starry Lee that he will need a second shot of the vaccine in two to four weeks’ time, and he can receive it in either Beijing or Shenzhen.

He added that he has asked the central government to supply mainland vaccines to Hong Kong quickly.

The SAR government says it has procured millions of Covid vaccine doses from another Chinese manufacturer, Sinovac, with other jabs on the way from BioNTech and AstraZeneca.