The Government today said that two batches of the BioNTech vaccine which were put on hold earlier due to packaging defects will be returned to the manufacturer in Germany.

Vaccine batches 210102 and 210104 have been suspended for use since March 24 as a precautionary measure after the Government was notified of packaging defects including loose vial caps and leakage from the vials.

Meanwhile, BioNTech has completed an investigation into the packaging defects and confirmed that the incident was caused by the imperfect crimping process at one packaging plant in Germany, but noted there is no safety issue related to the defects.

Fosun has arranged for the affected batches to be replaced by new ones that were packaged in another packaging plant (Baxter) in Germany.

Since the resumption of the BioNTech vaccination service in Hong Kong, no complaints related to the crimping defects have been received.