The Advisory Panel on COVID-19 Vaccines convened a meeting today (February 15) to conduct continuous benefit-risk analysis of the authorised COVID-19 vaccines. The meeting was chaired by convenor Professor Wallace Lau Chak-sing.
 
     At the meeting today, the Advisory Panel reviewed the continuous benefit-risk balance of the two authorised vaccines. After reviewing all the latest clinical information, and real-world data on efficacy and safety (including safety reports submitted by the authorisation applicants) related to the Comirnaty (which include the Comirnaty vaccine, the paediatric and toddler formulations of the Comirnaty vaccine, as well as the Comirnaty Original/Omicron BA.4-5 bivalent vaccine) and the Sinovac vaccines, the Advisory Panel considered that there was no new significant safety signal identified, though continuous monitoring was still required. The quality of the Comirnaty and Sinovac vaccines imported has already passed the certification and appropriate testing for quality control. In summary, the Advisory Panel still considered that the benefits of the two vaccines outweighed the risks, and recommended that there is no need to make changes regarding the use of the two vaccines.
 
     The Advisory Panel will submit the relevant views to the Secretary for Health for consideration. The information concerned will be uploaded to the website of the Health Bureau later on.
 
     "The Government will continue to ensure that the authorised vaccines satisfy the criteria of safety, efficacy and quality, and disseminate the latest safety and scientific information on the relevant vaccines to the public and relevant stakeholders in a timely manner," a Government spokesman said.
 
     The Comirnaty vaccine and Sinovac vaccine were authorised in accordance with the Prevention and Control of Disease (Use of Vaccines) Regulation (Cap. 599K) on January 25 and February 18, 2021, respectively. Subsequently, the paediatric and toddler formulations of the Comirnaty vaccine were authorised on September 30, 2022, and the Comirnaty Original/Omicron BA.4-5 bivalent vaccine was authorised on November 10, 2022. To comply with the conditions of authorisation, the authorisation applicants are required to submit the latest clinical data on the vaccines, safety update reports, quality certification documents, etc, for continuous review and monitoring.

Ends/Wednesday, February 15, 2023
Issued at HKT 19:01

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