Opinion | Government hesitancy about pushing vaccination is costing Hong Kong

Name: After vaccinating over 40% of its population, Israel starts reopening businesses and airport
Uploaded: 2021-05-17T00:30:19.000Z
Duration: 2 min 37 s
Description: After vaccinating over 40% of its population, Israel starts reopening businesses and airport

From the point of view of the individual, vaccine hesitancy is perfectly logical, yet at the societal level it represents disaster

But the government hesitates to provide leadership, fearing a backlash from those who must face short-term hardship or the risk of side effects

Reading Time:3 minutes

Why you can trust SCMP

A man walks in Wan Chai. Neither the economy nor life can get back to normal without a successful vaccination campaign. Photo: Robert Ng

Mike Rowse

Published: 8:30am, 17 May 2021Updated: 8:30am, 17 May 2021

The total disarray of the government’s quarantine policy over the past two weeks sent me to my dictionary to look up “dilly-dally” (“waste time through aimless wandering or indecision”), then “shilly-shally” (“fail to act resolutely or decisively”). It’s hard to choose between them, isn’t it?

What is really painful is that it didn’t have to be like this. Our doctors and nurses have done a great job dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic, and the public has by and large been incredibly disciplined. But we have all been let down by policy failings at the top.

From the outbreak last year to the beginning of this year, the government’s action plan could best be described as “suppress and lift”: impose strict social controls to squeeze the number of infections to a minimum, then relax somewhat to spare the economy. Not ideal but perhaps the best of several bad options. The problem was that it did not provide a lasting solution to the crisis, it only bought time until one emerged.

Earlier this year, salvation arrived in the shape of several effective vaccines. While these are not the total answer – they reduce the risks of infection, and lessen adverse consequences for patients, without eliminating them – they nonetheless provide a path to herd immunity. Only then can the spread be halted and the risk of mutations be minimised.

Israel has demonstrated how an aggressive vaccination campaign can get life back to normal. The United States and Britain, after clumsy starts, are fast catching up and will soon be fully open for business.

02:37

After vaccinating over 40% of its population, Israel starts reopening businesses and airport

Therefore, for the last three months there has been only one responsible policy option for the Hong Kong government: go hell for leather to maximise vaccination. We need a clear decision to make herd immunity our strategic objective within 2021, and come up with a detailed plan, including milestones, to achieve it.

Select Voice

Choose your listening speed

Get through articles 2x faster

1.25x

250 WPM

Slow

Average

Fast

00:0000:00

1.25x