Covid-19 vaccines: restoring Hong Kong public’s confidence in jabs vital, say medical experts, as city leader considers travel lure to boost vaccination take-up rate

Hong Kong officials are considering offering incentives for taking the jab, such as exemptions from certain travel restrictions, in bid to increase vaccinations

With public concerns over safety of Sinovac jabs mounting, experts say questions remain over whether enough residents will get inoculated

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Members of the public queue outside the Community Vaccination Centre at Hong Kong Central Library, in Causeway Bay. Photo: Felix Wong

Published: 10:30am, 18 Mar 2021Updated: 12:28am, 19 Mar 2021

Hong Kong medical experts have said they believe incentivising people to be vaccinated against Covid-19 could boost the city’s faltering inoculation rate, but questions remain as to whether enough people will be convinced to get the jab.

Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor on Wednesday said the government was considering moves to increase vaccinations, such as exempting those who take the jab from certain travel restrictions and social-distancing rules.

The deaths of seven people in the city soon after receiving the Chinese-made Sinovac vaccine have led to mounting public concern over its potential side effects, despite no link being established between the fatalities and the jabs.

So far, the take-up rate of the two coronavirus vaccines presently available in the city, Sinovac’s version and one made in Germany by BioNTech, show the public heavily in favour of the latter.

About 276,600 people have so far received their first dose since the start of the vaccination programme late last month. The take-up rate of people turning up to their appointments at community vaccination centres for the Sinovac vaccine was about 80 per cent, while BioNTech shots were around 90 per cent.

Late on Wednesday, three of the 19 community vaccination centres offering the German vaccine, and half of the 18 general outpatient clinics providing the Chinese jab were fully booked for the next three weeks.