Letters | Why is Hong Kong sacrificing children’s education for unvaccinated seniors?
- Readers discuss the Education Bureau’s ‘no jab, no school’ decision, what happens when policymakers are always right, and the choice of vaccines.
This move is both premature and unfair. Firstly, at present, children aged five to 11 can only book a Sinovac vaccine and this age group has had the least time to be vaccinated.
Primary education is a human right. By essentially saying “no jab, no school”, the bureau could be seen to be violating the rights of our children to primary education.
Secondly, I would like the bureau to provide assurances that a high vaccination rate will mean an end to further school closures. It is quite clear at present that vaccination rates are not being considered in the day-to-day handling of the pandemic in Hong Kong, given that secondary schools have been closed.
Vaccinations are critical to the overall burden on the health system. Vaccinated people are far less likely to require hospitalisation, intensive care treatment, and to die from Covid-19.