Teachers and parents urged to get inoculated for sake of kids

Teachers and parents were urged to get vaccinated as all kindergartners and primary and secondary schoolchildren resumed in-person teaching and half-day classes yesterday.

Sheng Kung Hui St James' Primary School principal Langton Cheung Yung-pong said primary students cannot get vaccinated and urged those around them to get jabs to help keep the youngsters safe.

Only two-thirds of students had been allowed to return to campuses before but the Education Bureau said schools could fully resume half-day, face-to-face classes if all teachers and staff test negative for Covid-19 every two weeks.

A Primary Six student, surnamed Law, said he had only returned to school for one week since the Easter holidays and he was stuck with classes for a month.

Law said he studying online could be lonely and that he was glad he could meet his classmates before graduating.

"[We could] chat, play together and enhance our relationship," Law said.

His mother said it was not absolutely safe to fully resume in-person classes because Hong Kong still has some local cases.

"But students will return to school eventually," she said, adding it would be better to let students go back to school.

Another parent, Mr Lo, accompanied his two sons in Primary Three and Five to school. He said the elder son used to go to the campus every day while the younger son needed to stay at home - and that posed some problems.

His wife frequently had to rush back home to look after the younger son after sending the older one to school.

Cheung, who is also the honorary chairman of the Hong Kong Aided Primary School Heads Association, said children's main contacts are family members and teachers.

If 70 percent of them are vaccinated, a "vaccine bubble" for schools and families could be created, he said.

Cheung also said the government might decide whether or not to fully resume in-person classes based on the vaccination rate, citing safety concerns.

But he suggested that instead of forcing people to get jabbed, the government should educate them about vaccines so that they would get the shots on their own initiative.

"Even though there are some risks [in getting vaccinated], as healthy adults, why can't we take on more responsibility?" he said.

Around 90 percent of locally infected children and teenagers got the virus from their family members, a University of Hong Kong study showed.

"The survey results clearly showed that close contact with their parents and grandparents was the primary route through which Hong Kong children and adolescents got infected with Covid-19, indicating an urgent need for eligible adults to get vaccinated," said Patrick Ip Pak-keung, clinical associate professor at HKU's department of pediatrics and adolescent medicine.

"Vaccination is the best way to protect our children from being infected."

The study also found that children are more likely to suffer psychologically during school closures.

"For example, children were shown to have elevated hyperactivity symptoms, with their scores higher by 7.5 percent," the researchers said.

"The stress level of parents also increased by 5.6 percent when compared with pre-pandemic scores."

wallis.wang@singtaonewscorp.com