Big twist on certificates for no-jab employees

Doctors cited difficulties in deciding if someone is suitable or not for a Covid-19 inoculation after authorities made a doctors' certificate compulsory for restaurant staff said to be unfit for the jabs.

Relaxation of social distancing measures under the vaccine bubble concept depending on vaccination of staff and customers at restaurants and other places of business begins today.

To benefit from them - extension of dining-in hours after 10 pm and allowing more than four people at a restaurant table plus reopening bars and five other types of businesses - staff must have received at least one vaccine dose and those unfit for the jabs due to health reasons must submit a declaration form and a doctor's certificate.

They will also be subject to being tested every seven days.

But infectious disease expert Ho Pak-leung of the University of Hong Kong said many medical conditions are not included in warnings spelled out on vaccine packaging. He said uncontrolled hypertension is not one of the cited conditions the Beijing-made CoronaVac should not be administered.

And for the made-in-Germany Comirnaty the only condition is that it should not be administered to people who had been allergic to the vaccine's active ingredients. There is no mention of it being unsuitable for people with hypertension, diabetes and obesity.

"If people think they are unfit for the vaccine but there has not been scientific evidence or their conditions were not listed as unsuitable to be vaccinated it will be difficult for doctors to give out certification," Ho said. "This could cause a lot of conflicts and complaints."

Irene Young Bick-kwan, director of food and environmental hygiene, said authorities would provide guidelines on those who declare they are unfit for a jab.

The president of the Hong Kong Federation of Restaurants and Related Trades, Simon Wong Ka-wo, said around 30 percent of catering staff have been inoculated. But he cited a survey with 50 eateries and estimated that 60 percent of restaurants will stick with current arrangements - allowing four people at a table and operating until 10pm - so that they do not need to meet additional requirements including getting all employees vaccinated and making diners use the LeaveHomeSafe tracing app.

He also expressed concerns on potential conflicts, saying: "We're in an awkward position in handling staff unwilling to take the jabs. We don't want to fire them, but they may not be able to obtain a doctors' certificate."

Wong said in prior discussions with authorities the word was that staff unfit for vaccination had only to fill in a declaration form and receive tests every 14 days, but that has changed. Sources said the tightened measures were initiated by the Executive Council.

The U-banquet Group, which has asked staff of its four operations to get vaccinated or to go on no-pay leave, said 70 percent of its workers have had at least one jab. Chairman Cheung Ka-ho said each vaccinated employee gets a HK$2,000 allowance.

The remaining 30 to 40 people who had not taken a jab - mostly cleaners, dishwashers and waiters above 65 - have doctors' certificates saying they are unfit for a vaccine. And they would receive a HK$500 subsidy.

Hong Kong yesterday recorded seven fresh cases, including six imported and one linked to a previous infection, so the tally went to 11,756 with 207 deaths.

jane.cheung@singtaonewscorp.com