Liu Shao-haei (right), president of Society for Innovative Healthcare Hong Kong; and Ko Wing-man, SIHHK’s chief advisor, attend a webinar on COVID-19 vaccines in Hong Kong, Jan 23, 2021. (PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

HONG KONG - Enhancing the public's vaccine knowledge with proper up-to-date information is a good approach to increasing vaccine acceptance, said a Hong Kong health expert as the financial hub is about to roll out its coronavirus vaccination program.

Liu Shao-haei, president of Society for Innovative Healthcare Hong Kong (SIHHK), made the remarks Saturday in a webinar on COVID-19 vaccine which was co-organized by SIHHK and Hong Kong Institute of Allergy and Vaccine Academy. The webinar was attended by more than 300 people online.

The Hong Kong government earlier announced that it had secured 7.5 million doses of vaccines each from Sinovac, BioNTech and AstraZeneca, and that its inoculation program was expected to be rolled out next month.

READ MORE: HK secures 22.5m doses of vaccines, enough for all citizens

A 12-member expert panel has advised the Food and Health Bureau to approve the emergency use of Fosun-BioNTech vaccine, after concluding that there were “more benefits than risks” in using the mRNA-based vaccine.

Liu Shao-haei (3rd left), president of Society for Innovative Healthcare Hong Kong; Ko Wing-man (3rd right), SIHHK’s chief advisor, and other guests and panelists pose for a photo at a webinar on COVID-19 vaccines in Hong Kong, Jan 23, 2021. (PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

Ko Wing-man, SIHHK’s chief advisor and Hong Kong’s former secretary for food and health, said the webinar was one of the education series to facilitate healthcare professionals to understand the different COVID-19 vaccine technologies.

“With better knowledge, our healthcare professionals can timely disseminate accurate vaccine information to general public,” Ko said in a statement.

Ko also stressed the importance of ensuring equity in the allocation of COVID-19 vaccines globally.

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AstraZeneca said it would supply 300 million doses of its vaccines, which was co-developed with Oxford University, via the World Health Organization’s COVID-19 Vaccine Global Access facility. It has also reached a licensing agreement with Serum Institute of India to supply one billion doses to the country.

At the webinar, Sarah Gilbert, professor of Vaccinology at Oxford University, also shared her first-hand information about the technology used in the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine and the strategy to achieve a good balance between vaccine safety, efficacy and quality amid the rapid spread of the coronavirus.