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Letters | Coronavirus fourth wave in Hong Kong: get moving on vaccines before it is too late
- The pandemic cannot be permanently eradicated or brought down to zero local cases with the measures currently in place. The only viable option is to quickly vaccinate all or most Hong Kong residents
Covid 19 poses an unprecedented challenge to many regions and countries across the globe. Hong Kong remains one of the most significantly impacted, with large parts of the tourism and hospitality sector at risk of going out of business, unemployment at a 16-year high, and a massive GDP contraction. Also, with the latest round of restrictions arising from the fourth wave, any recovery remains elusive.
On Monday, we also read that the city’s economic recovery “would depend on forces largely out of his control”, according to Secretary for Finance Paul Chan. In addition, students in Hong Kong have been accumulatively banished from classrooms for one of the longest periods in the world.
Hong Kong’s status as a global finance hub, a pan-Asian corporate hub, and a stepping stone to mainland China is significantly challenged due to the lack of freedom of international movement – and both Tokyo and Singapore are eager to take Hong Kong’s place.
Many besides me had been eyeing the elusive health code for cross-border travel and the travel bubble with Singapore. Despite all our efforts, we have gone back to square one.
02:15
Hong Kong tightens social-distancing measures to cope with fourth wave surge of Covid-19 cases
Hong Kong tightens social-distancing measures to cope with fourth wave surge of Covid-19 cases
The conclusion is simple: the virus outbreak cannot be permanently eradicated or brought down to “zero local infection” with the measures currently in place. The only viable option is to quickly vaccinate all or most Hong Kong residents.
It was therefore with great despair that I read the news that vaccines would not be widely deployed until 2022. It is a complete mystery why we cannot collaborate better with the mainland, which will reportedly have 600 million doses of vaccine ready to deploy this year.
Hong Kong has the funds, access to several potential supply routes and several good reasons to be quick.
I, therefore, urge the government to immediately develop a comprehensive plan to vaccinate all Hong Kong residents within the first half of next year, with help from the mainland, the Covax programme or other means as deemed appropriate.
If we fail to do this, I fear we will see a widespread exodus of corporations who cannot use Hong Kong as a base for their international operations, as well as of permanent and temporary residents who cannot imagine being stuck here, under on-and-off restrictions, for up to two years from now.
Torbjörn Magnusson, Wu Kai Sha
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