Hong Kong health authorities put a temporary halt to Pfizer Inc.-BioNTech SE COVID inoculations early Wednesday after a batch was found to have faulty packaging.
"It is prudent to suspend the vaccine product with batch No. 210102 until the investigation is complete," the government said in a statement. "The other batch, No. 210104, should also be sealed and not administered for the time being."
Authorities in Hong and Macao were told early Wednesday by local distributor Fosun Industrial Co. Ltd. the vaccine's packaging had been compromised.
"The government received a written notification from Fosun this morning that BioNTech and Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. have conducted an investigation into the cause of the packaging defects related to the cap of the vial," a Hong Kong representative said.
Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical is majority owned by Fosun International. Fosun Pharmaceutical is the joint owner of Sinopharm Industrial Investment, the parent company of fellow listed company Sinopharm Group.
People scheduled to take the BioNTech vaccine Wednesday morning arrived at the vaccination centers only to find closed signs and health workers directing everyone to return home.
As many as 150,000 Hong Kong residents have received their first dose of the BioNTech vaccine to date, while the Sinovac jab has been given to 252,000 people.
This brings the number of vaccinations in the city to about 403,000, or 5.4% of the population. That compares with Singapore's 6.9% and 54% of Israelis.
Hong Kong has reported eight potentially vaccine-related deaths - seven among Sinovac recipients and one BioNTech vaccinated person - all with preexisting conditions.
The deaths provided ammunition for vaccine sceptics, prompting Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam to issue a call to bolster vaccination bookings.
"I condemn people who use social media or other means to spread false information, engage in alarmist behavior and even smear the domestically made vaccines," said Lam earlier this week.
All Hong Kongers who have received their BioNTech vaccines were inoculated with the defective batch - including former chief executive Donald Tsang who recently shared a photo of his vaccination certificate on social media - and it is not known how many unused doses of the batch remain.
Doses from the compromised batch, valid until June 2021, have also been removed from distribution in Macao.
"Vaccinations with the concerned products must be suspended," Macao's government said Wednesday.
