A healthcare worker receives a COVID-19 vaccine at a Community Vaccination Centre set up in the Exhibition Gallery of the Hong Kong Central Library, on Feb 23, 2021. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

HONG KONG - Online bookings for getting vaccinated with Sinovac and BioNTech doses after March 11 in Hong Kong will start in the next few days as the city reported 17 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday. 

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Online registration for vaccination started on Tuesday and by 4 pm, slots between Feb 26 and March 11 at five community centers and 18 general out-patient clinics had been fully booked by around 70,000 residents.

Secretary for the Civil Service Patrick Nip said “hundreds of thousands of” doses of BioNtech vaccine will arrive in the city on Thursday and bookings for spots at 24 community vaccination centers will start thereafter

Speaking on a radio program, Secretary for the Civil Service Patrick Nip Tak-kuen said 532 HK residents had each received a single shot of the Sinovac coronavirus vaccine on Tuesday. The vaccination program officially starts on Friday.

More than 1,000 private doctors have also offered their help with vaccinating the public and they can order Sinovac doses from health authorities in the next two days, Nip said. People don’t need to register online if they choose to get injected at private clinics.

Nip said “hundreds of thousands of” doses of BioNTech vaccine will arrive in the city on Thursday and bookings for spots at 24 community vaccination centers will start thereafter.

Meanwhile, the 17 new virus cases included six untraceable infections, pushing the city’s overall tally to 10,913.

All of the new cases were local except that of a 25-year-old woman from Dubai, Chuang Shuk-kwan, head of the Centre for Health Protection’s the communicable disease branch, said at a briefing.

The six cases of unknown origin included that of a security guard at a warehouse in To Kwa Wan, a 22-year-old man who worked part-time at Brightime at Flower Market in Mong Kok, a 55-year-old part-time saleswoman at Royal Plaza Cake Shop in Mong Kok, a 63-year-old driver for Seafood Islands Restaurant in Po Toi O, a 59-year-old male officer of Registration and Electoral Office, and a woman who worked in To Kwa Wan and visited her family members at Grantham Hospital.

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More than 10 people tested preliminarily positive for the coronavirus, Chuang added.

Among the preliminary cases were five people who dined at Mr. Ming’s Chinese Dining at K11 Musea in Tsim Sha Tsui on Friday afternoon, in addition to a confirmed patient, Chuang said. Those who visited the restaurant from Thursday would be subject to mandatory testing.

A 16-year-old student at Yu Chun Keung Memorial College in Ho Man Tin, who last visited the school on Tuesday, tested preliminarily positive, Chuang said.

Also on Wednesday morning, the government wrapped up a targeted testing operation in San Po Kong, the first of its kind conducted after the Chinese New Year holidays. Around 520 residents there were tested and no positive cases were found.

However, government personnel found six people who flouted testing orders and gave them new mandatory testing notices.

District, police and health officers also inspected Sung Oi Building in Hung Hom, which was earlier subjected to mandatory testing, and identified fourteen residents who did not comply with testing notices.

The 14 people were issued new compulsory testing orders while some of them were also fined HK$5,000 (US$645).