Coronavirus: quarantined Hong Kong residents question why vaccination made no difference

Some among the 1,027 sent to a government facility last week express dismay no exemptions have been made for those with two jabs, negative test

Others have complained about arrangements at Penny’s Bay, suggesting home quarantine would have been an easier, most cost-effective option

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Some fully vaccinated residents of Tung Chung’s Caribbean Coast development are deeply unhappy with their mandatory quarantine order. Photo: Winson Wong

Published: 12:28pm, 4 May 2021Updated: 11:36pm, 4 May 2021

Some fully vaccinated Hong Kong residents now in mandatory quarantine for three weeks after a mutated coronavirus variant was discovered in their housing block are questioning why they have not been exempted from the measure after testing negative.

Residents of Caribbean Coast in Tung Chung who spoke to the Post also suggested that home quarantine would have been preferable, while others expressed dismay over the arrangements at the government’s facility in Penny’s Bay.

Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor on Tuesday told reporters the city was investigating whether those with two jabs might be subjected to shorter isolation periods in cases involving the new strains.

I used to be one of the guys telling people to go get vaccinated. But now if you ask me, after what has happened, I wouldn’t tell them to take it or not to take it. I just won’t care any more

Vaccinated resident now in mandatory quarantine

In the city’s biggest such quarantine operation to date, 1,027 occupants of Tower 11 of the development’s Carmel Cove estate were evacuated on Thursday night after a 39-year-old domestic helper living in the building tested positive for the N501Y and E484K mutations. A 10-month-old baby she took care of was also confirmed to have tested positive.

Both mutations were found in more infectious strains first identified in South Africa and Brazil, and experts suggested there could be transmission links between the helper and a 29-year-old man visiting from Dubai who was the first variant case detected in the city.

But some of those swept up in the precautionary operation are now questioning why their fully vaccinated status made no difference in determining if isolation was necessary.

The government’s quarantine centre at Penny’s Bay. Photo: Dickson Lee