Hong Kong suspends Pfizer vaccines, citing packaging defects

Hong Kong suspended vaccinations using Pfizer shots — known as BioNTech shots in the city — on Wednesday after they were informed by its distributor Fosun that one batch had defective bottle lids.

The suspension was immediate while Chinese pharmaceutical firm Fosun Pharma and BioNTech, the German company which created the vaccine with American pharmaceutical firm Pfizer, investigate the matter, according to a statement by the Hong Kong government.

BioNTech and Fosun Pharma have not found any reason to believe the product is unsafe, according to the statement. However, vaccinations will be halted as a preventive and safety measure.

The defective lids were found on vaccines from batch number 210102. A separate batch of vaccines, 210104, will also be not be administered.

Macao also said Wednesday that residents would not receive the Pfizer vaccinations from the affected batch.

All community centres in Hong Kong administering the Pfizer vaccine have temporarily suspended vaccinations and residents who already made appointments for Wednesday need not proceed to the centres, the government said.

The suspension of the Pfizer jab means the only vaccine currently offered to residents is China's Sinovac vaccine. The two vaccines are the only ones that were offered to residents in Hong Kong.

Some residents who had appointments in the morning stood in line outside a community centre administering the Pfizer vaccinations in the city's Sai Ying Pun neighbourhood. They eventually left the centre when it became apparent that no vaccines would be administered.

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This story has been corrected to state that the defective batch number is 210102.

Zen Soo, The Associated Press