Enough carrots, time for the stick: Hong Kong experts argue for tougher approach to boosting Covid-19 vaccination rate
- Measures making life more difficult for the unvaccinated appear to be the only way to drive vaccine uptake among holdouts, experts now say
- The renewed urgency comes as the government moves to require all people entering restaurants, gyms, cinemas and other premises to have received at least one dose of vaccine by Lunar New Year
With countless carrots having failed to entice some Hongkongers to get vaccinated and the city facing a potential fifth wave of coronavirus infections driven by the Omicron variant, it is time for the government to pick up the stick, health experts and analysts have said.
Hong Kong confirmed its first local Omicron infections on Saturday, involving two people who dined at a restaurant where a Cathay Pacific aircrew member infected with the variant ate. A third patron was listed as preliminary-positive.
Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor has said increasing the vaccination rate would be a priority for her administration this year.
Hong Kong launched its Covid-19 inoculation campaign more than 10 months ago, but just 72.4 per cent of the eligible population has received at least one shot. Vaccination rates among the elderly remain especially low, with just 20.5 per cent of those aged 80 and above having taken at least one dose.
The working-age population had a higher vaccination rate, with more than 80 per cent of people in their forties and fifties having received at least one dose.