“Same as with influenza, even though the variant used to develop the vaccine may not be entirely the same as the prevalent strain, the jab can still boost immunity,” he told a radio programme.
Professor Ivan Hung. a top infectious disease expert and panel convenor. Photo: Edmond So
BioNTech’s second-generation booster contains a bivalent formulation, meaning it is based on two virus strains – the original Covid-19 type, as well as the BA.4 and BA.5 lines, while a monovalent vaccine is only based on one strain.
Citing preliminary data from the United States, Hung said even if the vaccine, whether monovalent or bivalent, was developed using the BA.1 Omicron strain, it would still be more effective against subvariants such as BA.2, BA.4 and BA.5 than the first-generation drug, which was based on the original Covid-19 strain.
Omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5 are currently the dominant strains in Hong Kong, accounting for 93.8 per cent of samples tested by health authorities.
Professor David Hui has cited WHO recommendations for governments to acquire a wide range of vaccines. Photo: Winson Wong
Another member of the vaccine advisory panel Professor David Hui Shu-cheong also agreed with the call to acquire the new booster jab.
He cited the World Health Organization, which has recommended that governments purchase “a broad range” of vaccines that target different variants to give themselves “a plurality of options” when formulating inoculation policies.
Contrary to panel chairman Lau, who said the new booster might become outdated as a couple of imported cases involving another new variant BA.2.75 had been recorded in Hong Kong, Hung argued the second-generation shot would provide better protection against new subvariants than previous ones.
“The vaccine is made using Omicron subvariants, which is definitely more similar to the current prevalent subvariants,” he explained.
“With higher similarity, the vaccine’s ability to create neutralising antibodies and the protection it provides will be greater than the vaccine based on the original virus strain.”
He added that while no existing Covid-19 vaccines could prevent infections, jabs would still protect recipients from serious symptoms and death.
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