HONG KONG - The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region’s government has submitted its intent to join the global vaccine shared program led by the World Health Organization.

It is part of the HKSAR government’s two-pronged strategy for procurement of vaccines, explained a spokesman for the Food and Health Bureau in a press release issued on Friday evening.

The Hong Kong government needs to take early action to reserve potential vaccines for its population in a timely manner, a spokesman for the Food and Health Bureau said

"Although according to the WHO, currently, no vaccine for preventing COVID-19 has yet obtained regulatory approval for human application, we foresee that global competition will be very keen once an efficacious vaccine emerges,” the spokesman said.

READ MORE: Widespread virus vaccinations 'not expected' until mid-2021

Hong Kong, therefore, needs to take early action to reserve potential vaccines for its population in a timely manner, the spokesman added.

The COID-19 Vaccines Global Access (COVAX) Facility, co-led by the WHO, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and the Vaccine Alliance (Gavi), aims to speed vaccine development and to ensure fair and equitable distribution of vaccines to places around the world.

The aim is to have the vaccines delivered to the participating economies by the end of 2021.

ALSO READ: EU offers 400m euros to WHO-led COVID-19 vaccine initiative

As the COVAX Facility would only serve part of Hong Kong's population and the vaccines are not expected to be delivered to Hong Kong before late 2021, the government will purchase additional supplies from individual vaccine developers through advance purchase agreements, the spokesman said.

The government will make purchase decisions based on scientific evidence and clinical data and after consultation with relevant scientific committees under the Department of Health, the spokesman said.