Hong Kong restaurants have reported a smooth launch of the latest stage of the vaccine pass scheme, even though some patrons were turned away for failing to meet the new requirement. Employees at eateries said they had reminded regular diners in advance about the arrangement to avoid issues, but some elderly residents expressed frustrations with updating the government’s risk-exposure “Leave Home Safe” app. Under the third phase of the city’s vaccine pass scheme which took effect on Tuesday, residents aged 12 and above must have received three shots or got their second jab within six months to enter most premises. The new measure affects 23 types of places, including restaurants, bars, pubs, cinemas, bathhouses, gyms and beauty parlours. But nearly half of the city’s residents have not received the third dose. A diner who gave her name as Fong said she encountered issues when trying to enter a Chinese restaurant in Causeway Bay. The 66-year-old insisted that she had received the third dose two months ago, but did not know she had to upload her latest vaccine pass certificate to the app. “I’m so angry … My husband has been helping me enter my records on the app. I don’t understand what happened today, everything was still fine as of yesterday,” she said, adding that she was not good with technology. Fong’s vaccine pass display turned red for the first time, which meant she did not fulfil the latest requirement. Her vaccination records on the app showed she had her second dose in October last year, which was beyond the six-month time frame. She found out about the revised measures when staff at the restaurant and the Post explained them to her. Her 64-year-old friend surnamed Yan waited for almost half an hour while Fong insisted to staff that she was fully vaccinated. “I can attest that she has already received the third jab, otherwise we won’t even dare to make plans to eat in a restaurant,” said Yan, who had no issues entering the restaurant as she had updated the app. Fong was eventually allowed to enter the restaurant. Health authorities said last week that even though the new arrangement would come into effect on Tuesday, there would be a three-day transition period and that law enforcement would start on June 2. Another diner who gave his surname as Hui entered the same restaurant with his elderly mother and a domestic helper, who was turned away after her vaccine pass status turned red. “We already knew about the updated measure, our helper has only received two doses but we just wanted to try our luck by seeing if she could still enter,” said Hui, who is in his 50s. He eventually entered the restaurant with only his mother. The eatery reported smooth operations, saying most elderly customers knew about the changes beforehand and had already received the third jab. A female employee said business in the morning had dropped only slightly, as they were forced to turn away some elderly customers who did not meet the latest requirement. Hong Kong nightclub debate rages after 2 Covid clusters found; 275 cases logged “It’s more troublesome as we had to spend more time explaining the requirement to customers. A few days back, we started telling our seasoned older customers to prepare for the new changes and that they had to take three jabs,” she said. Leung Chun-wah, chairman of the Association for Hong Kong Catering Services Management, estimated the industry would lose 3 to 5 per cent of business per day. “The loss is not very significant,” he said on a radio show. “I hope that all these people will get the third dose within three months as people will celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival in September, which will be our peak season.” Leung, who also runs a few Chinese restaurants, said his establishments operated smoothly on the morning of the launch. “In each of our restaurants, we have staff at the entrance to help the elderly update their vaccination status [on the app],” he said. “This morning, I was told everything went smoothly as many of the elderly had asked their sons or grandchildren to update their vaccination status for them.” He added that staff had also reminded regular customers in advance to update their vaccine pass status. However, other industry leaders warned earlier that restaurants and bars might lose up to a quarter of their business this week and the local economy could suffer as well, because of the numbers of residents who had yet to receive the booster shot. Some 58 per cent of residents aged 12 or above, or about 3.9 million people, had received the third dose as of Tuesday. Additional reporting by Sammy Heung