Private hospitals and doctors in Hong Kong have cast doubts on the viability of them giving Covid-19 jabs for a fee, despite a government insistence that manufacturers were “striving” to offer vaccines to the sector.

The private operators on Friday said they were sceptical about the scheme because free shots were easily available to residents and there were uncertainties on when and how many mainland China or non-resident patients would travel to pay for vaccination.

Doctors and patients’ rights groups have already highlighted the need to maintain government-subsidised Covid-19 vaccinations in the long term because the coronavirus was likely to become endemic.

William Ho Shiu-wei, chairman of the Hong Kong Private Hospitals Association, told that Post that, without clear market demand, there was “little incentive” for the sector to acquire vaccines for sale to the public.

Ho said demand among city residents for private vaccination was non-existent, not only because of the cost, but also because jabs given outside the government programme would not be covered by an indemnity fund set up to provide financial support to people who suffered serious vaccine-related complications.

Medical sector lawmaker Dr David Lam Tzit-yuen, whose private clinic’s patients were almost all residents, agreed there was no reason for him to buy vaccines as long as residents could get free jabs.