Coronavirus: Hong Kong ‘vaccination bubble’ plan not intended to coerce residents into getting jab, Carrie Lam says

But the city leader acknowledges new incentives, many of which are tied to taking a Covid-19 shot, was crafted in the context of an ‘unsatisfactory’ inoculation rate

The social-distancing changes have provoked a firestorm of criticism from the city’s restaurant and bar owners, many of whom insist the new rules are unworkable

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People queue up to receive a coronavirus vaccine at Hong Kong Central Library. Photo: Edmond So

Published: 12:03pm, 13 Apr 2021Updated: 6:44pm, 13 Apr 2021

Hong Kong’s leader has rejected accusations the city’s new “vaccination bubble” plan is intended to coerce residents into taking a coronavirus jab, saying it provides a “timetable and road map” for returning to normal life, while acknowledging the incentives were devised to address an unsatisfactory inoculation rate.

Defending the multifaceted scheme rolled out a day earlier, Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor on Tuesday also insisted new rules for local restaurants and bars that some had already decried as unworkable were not overly burdensome.

“I don’t think it’s complicated,” she said. “The response I’ve got is very good.”

The rebuttal came as the city confirmed 13 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday, and announced the arrival of 300,000 more doses of the German-made BioNTech vaccine. Three of the new infections were locally transmitted – including one that was untraceable – while the rest were imported.

Lam, meanwhile, also highlighted the city’s “travel bubble” discussions with Singapore, a quarantine-free air travel corridor, and pointed out her administration recently revised the proposal by adding a requirement that travellers from Hong Kong to Singapore must first get a Covid-19 vaccine before departure.

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