Author: simon

Fosun BioNTech Batch No 210102

The Governments of HKSAR and Macao SAR have temporarily suspended Covid-19 vaccinations using Comirnaty.

A press release issued by the Hong Kong Government at 10am 24 March, read below or here, said that it had received notice from the manufacturer that there may be a packaging defect with the closure of the medicine bottle.

For the sake of caution, the government has decided to suspend all vaccinations using this type of vaccine during the investigation period.

BionTech and Fosun Pharma have not found any reasons to believe safety has been compromised. The Department of Health will be having an emergency meeting with the distributors to understand the incident.

Hong Kong currently has two batches of vaccine including Batch Number 210102 (expires 21 June) and 210104. Batch number 210104 will remain sealed and unused until an investigation has been carried out.

For those already vaccinated, which includes bc magazine staff, there has been no notification from the manufacturer that the improper closure is harmful. It may though affect the efficacy of the vaccine.

Suspension of BioNTech vaccination
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The Government received written notification from Fosun Industrial Co., Limited this morning (March 24) that as notifications of observed deviations in the vial seal of Comirnaty vaccine (BioNTech) product (batch 210102 (Expiry 06/2021)) were received, BioNTech and Fosun Pharma have initiated an investigation to identify the root cause of these packaging issues. For the sake of prudence, the concerned vaccination should be suspended immediately for the time being while investigation is ongoing.
So far, BioNTech and Fosun Pharma have no reason to believe that there is a risk to product safety. However, for the sake of prudence, vaccination of the batch 210102 should be suspended until the investigation is completed. Meanwhile, batch 210104, another batch of BioNTech vaccines procured by Hong Kong, should also be put on hold and not be administered. This is a precautionary measure to continuously ensure vaccine safety.
As BioNTech vaccines procured by Hong Kong belong to the above batches, all Community Vaccination Centres (CVCs) stopped vaccinating BioNTech vaccine with immediate effect today until further notice. Those who have made appointments to receive BioNTech vaccination from today onwards need not go to CVC for vaccination.
The Department of Health will hold an urgent meeting with Fosun Industrial Co., Limited today to obtain further details of the incident and discuss on the follow up measures.

This post will be updated as more information is available:
Edited 13:42 added English press release and link

For more information on Covid-19 in Hong Kong see the government website www.coronavirus.gov.hk

Jade Jets Women’s Premier League Champions 2021

Jade Jets 103/5 in 27.3 overs (Mariko Hill 63*, Maryam Bibi 5.3-0-24-2) beat Bauhinia Stars 102 a/o in 35.2 overs (Kary Chan 27, Keenu Gill 4.2-1-6-3, Jasmine Titmuss 7-0-22-3) by 5 wickets

The third and final game of the 2020-21 Women’s Premier League was played on 21st March at Mission Road. Jade Jets skipper Pull To won the toss and elected to field first on an overcast Sunday morning.

To’s decision was vindicated with a pair of early wickets as she held a sharp catch to dismiss Jaswinder Kaur off Iqra Sahar in the 2nd over, after which Jasmine Titmuss trapped Emma Lai lbw. Ruchitha Venkatesh and Kary Chan steadied the innings before Venkatesh nicked the first ball she received from Betty Chan to be dismissed for 5, the Stars 39/3.

Kary Chan was dismissed for 27 on the last ball of Betty Chan’s next over, falling to a clever piece of bowling, and Game 2 POTM Maryam Bibi was caught well by Mariko Hill for a 2nd ball duck. Amanda Cheung stuck around for a while, but was the 6th batter dismissed, bowled around her legs by Keenu Gill, who then ran out a hesitating Alison Siu to leave the Stars reeling at 56/7.

Connie Wong and Dorothea Chan added a much needed 32 runs, but just as she was set to tee off Wong was yorked by Jasmine Titmuss for 26. Titmuss bowled Anum with an identical yorker next ball leaving the Stars 88 for 9. Chan and Maheen Haider added 14 runs in a final wicket partnership that pushed the Stars past 100, before Gill broke through Chan’s defences to bring an end to the innings after 36 overs.

https://youtu.be/Aa1vFpuWXrU

In response, the Bauhina Stars also nabbed a couple of early wickets,  skipper Kary Chan dismissed her opposite number Pull To in the 4th over, and Maryam Bibi struck twice in her opening spell, trapping Titmuss lbw and bowling Keenu Gill with a peach of a delivery.

After 11.2 overs the Jets found themselves on exactly the same score as the Stars – 39/3. But Mariko Hill was hitting well dispatching every poor ball offered. She struck 11 boundaries on her way to an unbeaten 63 off 74 balls, taking the game away from the Stars in the process.

Hill added 43 with Lemon Cheung, in the highest partnership of the game, and despite a late wobble was able to ease the Jets home with 12.3 overs and 5 wickets to spare. A comprehensive win for the Jets to cap off a successful first-ever Women’s Premier League!

1.2 Billion Pixel Panorama of Mars

NASA’s Curiosity rover captured this high-resolution panorama of the Martian surface between Sol 3057 (12 March) and Sol 3062 (17 March 2019).

http://www.360cities.net/image/mars-gigapixel-panorama-curiosity-solar-day-3060#342.00,-2.90,35.5

The version without the rover contains 136 images from 34-millimeter Mast Camera; a version with the rover contains 260 images from 100-millimeter telephoto Mast Camera. Both versions are composed of more than 396 images that were carefully stitched.

Scott Guzewich an Atmospheric Scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center commented about the image “Humans minds don’t easily comprehend the vast eons of time that separate us from the places we explore in space with robots like Curiosity. Our minds are designed to think in terms of hours, days, seasons, and years, extending up to a duration of our lifetime and perhaps those a few generations before us.

When we explore Mars, we’re roving over rocks that formed billions of years ago and many of which have been exposed on the surface for at least tens or hundreds of millions of years. It’s a gap of time that we can understand numerically, but there’s no way to have an innate feel for the incredible ancientness of the planet and Gale Crater.”

More panoramas of Mars by Curiosity rover: http://www.360cities.net/sets/curiosity-mars

Hong Kong Cricket All-Stars 2021

The Cricket Hong Kong (CHK) All-Stars Series postponed from last December will now take place later this month at Tin Kwong Road Recreation Ground in Kowloon. Thirty-six cricketers from across the region have been split into three teams, each of which represents a major district of Hong Kong.

The Kowloon Lions, Hong Kong’s most populous district in the shadow of Lion Rock, will be lead by current Hong Kong skipper Aizaz Khan. While current HK vice-captain Kinchit Shah will lead New Territories Tigers named after the wild tigers that used to roam the area.

Former HK captain Jamie Atkinson will lead the Hong Kong Islanders, home to many of Hong Kong’s distinctive landmarks. The three teams will play each other once in a single round-robin stage, with the top 2 sides playing each other in a Final.

All-Stars Squads

Kowloon Lions: Aizaz Khan (Captain), Zeeshan Ali (Wicketkeeper), Nizakat Khan, Hamed Khan, Ehsan Ayaz, Jack Metters, Mehran Zeb, Dan Pascoe, Dhananjay Rao, Ahan Trivedi, Gandeep Sandhu, Charlie Wallis

New Territories Tigers: Kinchit Shah (Captain), Adit Gorawara (Wicketkeeper), Babar Hayat, Wajid Shah, Akbar Khan, Daniyal Bukhari, Aftab Hussain, Ashley Caddy, Bilal Akhtar, Sheryar Khan, Mohammad Hassan Khan, Ateeq Iqbal

Hong Kong Islanders: Jamie Atkinson (Captain, Wicketkeeper), Umar Mohammad, Ninad Shah, Waqas Khan, Haroon Arshad, Simandeep Singh, Zakir Hayat, Ehsan Khan, Mohammad Waheed, Mohammad Ghazanfar, Ayush Shukla, Mohsin Khan

All-Stars T20 Series

The T20 series will see all three teams compete across 2 days, playing 3 round-robin matches followed by a winner takes all final.

The 50 over competition will see the teams re-drafted with the Hong Kong Islanders taking on the Kowloon Lions in a best of 3 series.

Friday 26th March

9:30am: Kowloon Lions vs New Territories Tigers

1:30pm: Hong Kong Islanders vs Kowloon Lions

Saturday 27th March

9:30am: New Territories Tigers vs Hong Kong Islanders

1:30pm: FINAL

All games played at Tin Kwong Road Recreation Ground in Kowloon.

The T20 series will be followed by a 3-Match ODI Series between the Kowloon Lions and Hong Kong Islanders.

All games will be screened live and free on Youtube

New Quarantine Hotel List Announced: 21 April – 19 June, 2021

An updated list of 30 designated quarantine hotels for the period 21 April – 19 June 2021 (third cycle) was released today.

The list of designated hotels in the third cycle and related details such as room rates have been uploaded to www.designatedhotel.gov.hk.

Or download the pdf here

Central and Western District
1. Best Western Plus Hotel Hong Kong
2. CM+ Hotels & Serviced Apartments
3. Grand City Hotel
4. JEN Hong Kong by Shangri-La
5. Lan Kwai Fong Hotel @ Kau U Fong
6. One-Eight-One Hotel & Serviced Residences
7. Ramada Hong Kong Harbour View
8. The Landmark Mandarin Oriental

Hong Kong Eastern District
1. Ramada Hong Kong Grand View

Islands District
1. Four Points by Sheraton Hong Kong Tung Chung
2. Regal Airport Hotel

Kowloon City District
1. Bridal Tea House Hotel Hung Hom Gillies Avenue South
2. iclub Ma Tau Wai Hotel
3. Kerry Hotel, Hong Kong
4. Metropark Hotel Kowloon Hong Kong
5. Regal Oriental Hotel

Kwai Tsing District
1. Dorsett Tsuen Wan,

Hong Kong Southern District
1. Nina Hotel Island South (Formerly L’hotel Island South)
2. Ovolo Southside

Tsuen Wan District
1. Silka Far East Hotel Hong Kong

Wan Chai District
1. Best Western Hotel Causeway Bay
2. Dorsett Wanchai Hong Kong
3. Hotel Indigo Hong Kong Island
4. Mira Moon Hotel
5. Vela Boutique Hotel

Wong Tai Sin District
1. Pentahotel Hong Kong,

Kowloon Yau Tsim Mong District
1. Bridal Tea House Hotel Yau Ma Tei Wing Sing Lane
2. Dorsett Mongkok Hong Kong
3. Ramada Hong Kong Grand
4. Silka Seaview Hotel Hong Kong

Do Not Split Wins Norwegian Award

The Oscar-nominated documentary Do Not Split about the 2019 Anti Extradition protests has won Video Documentary of the Year in Norway and it’s director/cameraman Anders Hammer is Video Journalist of the Year.

The jury’s reasoning: In the documentary «Do not split», Anders Hammer takes us into the streets of Hong Kong and gives us a unique insight into the uprising against the authorities that unfolded in 2019. Through Hammer’s proximity to the sources, we get to feel on the body what it’s like to be young student in Hong Kong and be afraid of losing key human rights when new bills are to be passed. His brave and well-planned working methodology, as well as his excellent presence with a camera, is remarkable.

Unfolding across a year and filmed from within the heart of the 2019 protests, Anders Hammer’s Do Not Split captures the determination and sacrifices of the protesters, the government’s backlash, and the passage of the new National Security Law.

The film’s title is a reference to the Cantonese phrase 不割席 that roughly translates as “Do not split, do not divide, do not snitch on others.” The phrase emphasizes unity among the protesters, reminding Hongkongers in both the peaceful and more radical camps that they are fighting for the same cause.

Hammer commented “I tried to move in flow with the development in the demonstrations, which were very unpredictable. There were large and small demonstrations all the time, and the demonstrators rarely had an idea of ​​where the actions would end. Sometimes it was over before it had started because the police came and scared people away.”

“Then there could be street fights and long cat and mouse sessions,” Hammer added “There was a lot of evening and night work, and it was extremely unpredictable, but there was an insane energy among the protesters. It was incredibly fascinating to see.”

The documentary is largely divided into individual sequences, which show different parts of the protests. It follows several people, and much takes place in the center of the demonstrations.

“I have thought that the documentary will reflect and do what happened justice, at the same time as it gives a greater insight into the political and human” said Hammer.

Watch fieldofvision.org/do-not-split

The Oscars take place on 25 April.

HKTB Releases Visitor Arrival Details for February 2021

The Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) has released the visitor arrivals data for February 2021, there were approximately 5,500 (3,799 from the mainland, 1,696 non-mainland) a 97.2% drop year on year.

The HKTB noted that the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on tourism in Hong Kong began at about the same time last year, with monthly visitor arrivals dropping from 3.2 million in January 2020 to 200,000 in February 2020.

In the coming months as the visitor arrivals base in the comparable period, last year decreases significantly, the year-on-year decline in monthly visitor arrivals to Hong Kong will appear to narrow.

Virgin Vacation Release Eponymous Debut EP

Virgin Vacation, an instrumental quartet that blend math rock, improvisation jazz, krautrock and electronic beats, have released their eponymous debut EP on cassette, vinyl and digital formats – available from Bandcamp

The EP kicks off with a sound collage of a woman’s voice dispassionately recounting events related to the Hong Kong protests—before being crowded out by multiple copies of itself and a rising drone, reflecting the overwhelming news cycle in the city.

Independent comic book artist Lai Tat Tat Wing illustrates provides the EP’s cover art.

Track listing
Side A
1. Acid Rain
2. 5 Step

Side B
3. Third Eye
4. Voices

All Songs Written & Arranged by 假日貞操 Virgin Vacation