Screenshot shows a news report published by Lianhe Zaobao on Feb. 21, 2021.

Matthew Cheung, chief secretary for administration of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government, said on Feb. 21 that the arrival of the first batch of COVID-19 vaccines from Beijing offers a "cardiotonic" for Hong Kong's fight against COVID-19, according to a news report published on Feb. 17 by Lianhe Zaobao, a Singaporean Chinese-language newspaper.

Cheung said in a blogpost that, with the full support of the central government and active cooperation of the Sinovac Biotech, a pharmaceutical company of Chinese mainland, the first batch of about 1 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines developed by Sinovac arrived in Hong Kong from Beijing on Feb. 19.

According to his blogpost, Cheung said that the central government attached great importance to the COVID-19 situation in Hong Kong. The arrival of the first batch of mainland-produced vaccines will not only help strengthen Hong Kong's efforts to prevent and control the COVID-19, but will also aid the recovery of economy and help people resume normal life.

He also urged people to inoculate COVID-19 vaccines, as the HKSAR government has launched a free territory-wide vaccination program and the online appointment registration system was opened from Feb. 23. People of five groups including healthcare workers, people aged 60 and above, and people providing essential public services, will be arranged for priority vaccination from Feb. 26.

Cheung also reminded people to keep alert while the COVID-19 situation has eased recently. To avoid the occurrence of the fifth wave of COVID-19 infections in Hong Kong, Cheung encouraged people to receive vaccinations so as to lower the possibilities of community outbreak, and help Hong Kong defeat the epidemic.

Find the original article at https://www.zaobao.com.sg/realtime/china/story20210221-1125727