Yuen wants Covid passport as blocker

A local "vaccine passport" should be introduced to prevent unvaccinated citizens from going to work, school, restaurants and cinemas, an expert adviser to the government on Covid-19 argues.

University of Hong Kong microbiologist Yuen Kwok-yung also said that as the SAR prepares for reopening the border with the mainland there should be vaccination coverage of almost 100 percent as a massive outbreak could trigger a breakdown in the health-care system.

If nothing is done, he also said on an online forum, the inoculation rate will remain at around 70 percent even after four months, adding that authorities should also speed up giving booster shots.

On passports, he said people who have been vaccinated or recovered from Covid-19 should be able to apply for such a document and thus be classified as not being an infection risk.

And only holders of such passports would be able to enter most premises.

"Only when people realize they have to 'check in' when they go to work and have meals will they have the urge to get vaccinated," Yuen said. "It may be the last solution for ensuring 100 percent of the population gets jabbed."

Yuen said a 70-percent inoculation rate is no longer sufficient for border opening as cases in other countries continue to soar.

He cited Singapore as an example, saying that even with its coverage of over 80 percent its cases have mounted, with thousands of confirmed cases and about 15 deaths daily after control measures were eased.

Hong Kong could fall behind other countries' inoculation rates by the middle of next year, he said, as they were pushing for 100-percent vaccination rates or third vaccinations.

Also, he said, people offering business opportunities and investments "may turn to Singapore instead, and that would be bad news for Hong Kong."

Yuen also suggested authorities reveal the number of elderly people who died from health problems alongside deaths caused by side effects of vaccines so that seniors can understand the shots are less "deadly" than their medical illnesses.

In May, Secretary for Food and Health Sophia Chan Siu-chee hinted that unjabbed residents could be restricted from entering certain premises like restaurants, schools, theaters and museums if there was a fifth Covid wave.

However, respiratory specialist Leung Chi-chiu questioned the introduction of a passport, which could even widen the "societal rift."

Instead of imposing mandatory means to force people to get vaccinated, he declared, more effort should go into resolving vaccine misinformation.

As of yesterday, 4.65 million or 69 percent of the SAR's 6.84-million population above 12 had at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine. Among them, 4.45 million had both jabs.