Coronavirus: Hong Kong is recording a recent surge in jabs. Is a looming vaccine passport plan causing this?

Carrie Lam reveals delayed February 24 launch for barring the unvaccinated from venues such as restaurants, just hours after a January date was reportedly fixed

Daily mark of vaccine jabs administered jumped from 15,000 earlier last month to 20,000 recently, while bookings at centres are full for coming weeks

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Diners in a Chinese restaurant in Tsim Sha Tsui. Under an impending vaccine passport plan, unvaccinated people will be refused entry into eateries and entertainment venues. Photo: Sam Tsang

Cannix Yau

Published: 8:00am, 4 Jan 2022Updated: 12:12pm, 4 Jan 2022

Hong Kong has marked a recent surge in bookings for Covid-19 vaccinations, seemingly sparked by a contentious vaccine passport plan which will bar those who have not received jabs from entering restaurants and entertainment venues.

Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor announced on Tuesday that the launch of the scheme would be postponed until February 24 to allow more time for people to get vaccinated. A roll-out date of January 20 had reportedly been set just a day earlier during a meeting between the catering industry and health officials.

Several vaccination centres citywide have been fully booked for the coming one to two weeks, with a wave of residents signing up for their first shot, especially over the festive year-end period.

Private clinics also reported a drastic rise of up to threefold in the number of people receiving their first vaccine dose.

Residents in the queue for Sinovac jabs. Photo: K. Y. Cheng

According to government figures, an average of 15,000 shots were administered daily last month, but after authorities announced coming plans for the vaccine bubble, that mark has jumped to roughly 20,000.