Coronavirus: Hong Kong government advisers ‘split’ over vaccine requirement for mainland Chinese travellers
- Source says half of city’s pandemic advisers agreed earlier this week two-dose vaccination rule should apply to arrivals from mainland
- But in Thursday’s border reopening announcement, authorities said they would not need to be vaccinated
The first phase of Hong Kong’s border reopening with mainland China will not require arrivals to be fully vaccinated, but the Post has learned that government health advisers were split on the move earlier in the week.
The decision also goes against the earlier wish of the city’s health minister, who had expressed hope for “consistency” in vaccination measures for all travellers. While experts said they believed the move would not have a major impact on the city’s pandemic situation, frontline medical workers expressed concern that an already burdened public healthcare system could be strained further.
Before the resumption of quarantine-free travel between Hong Kong and mainland on Sunday, the government on Thursday announced that all travellers crossing both sides of the border would need to obtain a negative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test result within 48 hours before departure, but there would be no vaccination requirements. About 60,000 people are expected to move over the border daily in each direction once the new rules come into force.
Currently, non-Hong Kong residents from overseas are required to be fully vaccinated before coming to the city.
A source said that half of the government’s pandemic advisers earlier this week agreed in a meeting that the two-dose vaccination requirement should be imposed on all arrivals, including those from the mainland, especially when the healthcare system was strained during winter. The remaining half had opposing views.
Another insider said those supporting the vaccination requirement were hoping to reduce the risk of severe cases travelling to Hong Kong to protect the healthcare system from collapsing.
Secretary for Health Lo Chung-mau last week had also mentioned authorities had hoped to achieve consistency in vaccination requirements for travellers from the mainland and overseas.
Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu on Thursday argued that given the drastic change in the quota system, it would be better not to adjust other arrangements at the same time, adding the pre-departure PCR testing would be “a key control measure” to prevent infected travellers from entering the city.
60,000 travellers each way between Hong Kong, mainland China daily from Sunday
Some health experts also brushed off the concerns and said the PCR requirement and the city’s immunity would be sufficient to prevent a significant worsening of the local pandemic situation.
Professor Ivan Hung Fan-ngai, a top infectious disease expert and government pandemic adviser, expressed confidence that Hong Kong would be able to handle at least 120,000 daily commuters to and from the mainland.
“[It will have a] minimal effect as Hong Kong has very robust hybrid immunity and sufficient antiviral supply,” he said.
While agreeing that PCR tests would be effective in screening infected travellers, he said pre-departure testing could be dropped in February if there was no increase in the number of imported cases from the mainland.
“[Covid-19 should be] treated as another respiratory viral illness,” he said.
Hung added that as mainland arrivals were not required to be fully vaccinated, the same could be applied to non-Hong Kong residents from overseas to ensure fairness.
Respiratory medicine expert Dr Leung Chi-chiu also agreed that PCR tests would be sufficient.
“The testing will be able to prevent people who have tested positive from crossing the border for medical help,” Leung said.
While there were concerns about mainlanders not being fully vaccinated, Leung said many of them might have already developed natural protection after infection amid the recent spike of cases in the country.
“Their risks of developing symptoms and severe conditions are low,” he said. “If the virus has already been widely circulated, the risks of vaccinated and unvaccinated would not differ much.”
He also agreed that in the long run, the city might need to consider scrapping the vaccination requirement for all inbound travellers.
Jin Dongyan, a virologist at the University of Hong Kong, shared their views, adding that during the massive outbreaks on the mainland, most people there had already been infected or completed two doses of vaccine, providing them with a level of immunity.
He said that even if infected travellers managed to enter Hong Kong, the virus strains circulating on the mainland were not particularly threatening for the city.
But he suggested that spot checks could be conducted at control points to monitor the imports of new subvariants.
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Cyrus Lau Hoi-man, a frontline accident and emergency nurse, expressed worries over the potential strain on the city’s public healthcare system, as unvaccinated travellers had a higher risk of getting infected, developing severe symptoms and being sent to hospitals.
“The situation is quite worrying. The local pandemic has eased for now, but if we loosen anti-Covid restrictions for travellers, I am not sure [whether] we will lose control of the situation,” he said. “Asking them to be fully vaccinated had been a way to balance the risk.”
He added charging a higher price for non-residents to use public medical services would hardly prevent them from seeking help, as more than HK$34 million (US$4.35 million) in fees – owed by 3,700 patients without residency – had been written off in the previous financial year alone.
Non-residents are prohibited from using the teleconsultation and designated clinic services offered by the public system. Accident and emergency departments will only receive non-local Covid-19 patients with urgent needs, charging them HK$1,230 per visit, and more than HK$6,000 for antiviral treatments.
