Who knew a ‘dim sum ban’ was all it would take to get our elderly vaccinated?

Hong Kong retirees should have been first in line to get vaccinated but repeated calls fell on deaf ears – until, that is, a restaurant ban was announced
If only authorities had realised that sooner, Hong Kong would be in a much better place to deal with Omicron, and the mainland border might be open

Peter Kammerer

Published: 6:45am, 11 Jan 2022

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How out of touch with citizens are Hong Kong officials? If they had been the slightest bit aware of how important the daily dim sum ritual is for many elderly people, the city’s Covid-19 vaccination rate would, in all likelihood, have attained herd immunity months ago.

As it is, only now, with a scheme requiring proof of inoculation having been announced, are retirees finally rushing to get jabbed.

Let’s set aside the dozens of officials and legislators who, in the midst of the city’s first Omicron outbreak, decided that attending a party was setting a good example. The mandatory quarantine and public expectation of harsh discipline will serve as a lesson.

Convincing people of the necessity to get vaccinated is the issue here, and Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor and her ministers have repeatedly been found wanting.

Their message on Covid-19 prevention, based on what increasingly looks like an untenable policy of zero tolerance, has been confusing, lacking in goals and, at times, nonsensical. Why, for instance, is it safer to eat lunch than dinner in a restaurant, as the latest restrictions appear to indicate?

Where vaccination was concerned, those aged 70 and older had been holding out in droves. Perhaps they were worried about weak immune systems or existing health conditions and the side-effects of the jab. They possibly believed that the lack of Covid-19 outbreaks in the community meant there wasn’t a threat. Or maybe they simply considered themselves too tough to get infected.

Hongkongers are, after all, at the top of the tree when it comes to longevity. I have heard that dim sum itself, involving hours of chatting with friends over endless cups of tea and snacks, may even be the secret to their being able, on average, to live into their mid-to-late 80s.

As the most vulnerable to the coronavirus, they should have been the first rushing to get vaccinated when the government’s scheme was rolled out in February. But repeated calls by officials and campaigns failed to convince them.

Incentives from the private sector, like free flats, cash handouts and shopping vouchers, largely didn’t do the trick, either; a prize with low odds of being won is barely an inducement.

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Dim sum is quite another matter. When Lam announced that only people who had received at least one vaccine jab would be allowed into a restaurant and that the scheme would launch at the end of January, just before the Lunar New Year starts on February 1, the stirring began.

In another government flip-flop, Lam said there would be a delay until February 24 so that affected places could prepare. But the rush to vaccination centres had already started, as I found out when I went to get my booster shot.

The daily quota without a booking had already been filled when I arrived 20 minutes after it opened at 8am and I was told to try again at 3pm. Ahead of me was a line of elderly people getting their first jab, an understandable priority over the likes of those seeking their third shot.

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There was also a line of people in their 70s and beyond waiting at Eastern Hospital for the 10am vaccination clinic, but I made the cut. When I left at 10.30am, dozens more were in the queue.

For performing my civic duty, I was handed a pack of face masks as a gift, but those getting their first shot got a shopping bag containing an assortment of goodies, among them rice, oatmeal, masks and sanitiser. This freebie alone, if widely available and advertised, would have drawn crowds, I believe.

But as it is, all along it seems what was really needed to get the elderly vaccinated was the threat of banning them from dim sum. If only the authorities had realised that, Hong Kong would be in a much better place to deal with Omicron.

And who knows, maybe the much-anticipated and delayed reopening of the border with quarantine-free travel, would also have already started.

Peter Kammerer is a senior writer at the Post