Another resident surnamed Lau, in his 70s, came to the Kwun Chung Sports Center to get vaccinated with two family members. He believed the Sinovac vaccine is safe and hoped the vaccination program will help resume cross-border traveling so that he can visit his mainland friends.

"The vaccine supply is sufficient and I hope the public can get the vaccine to protect both themselves and others," Patrick Nip, secretary for the civil service of the HKSAR government said, adding that the online booking system will reopen on March 1 with three more vaccination centers set up.

The government has earmarked over 8.4 billion Hong Kong dollars ($1.08 billion) for the free vaccination of the majority of the population this year.