Coronavirus: baffled restaurants opt out of Hong Kong ‘vaccine bubble’ on new system’s launch day

Host of businesses shun new arrangements on Thursday to avoid souring relations with staff and customers, say more time needed to implement complex rules

Vaccination app, other tools key to the jabs-linked system for easing social-distancing rules were only released on launch day

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Social-distancing restrictions on restaurants were eased for those following the vaccine bubble rules. Photo: Winson Wong

Published: 4:02pm, 29 Apr 2021Updated: 11:58am, 30 Apr 2021

Many restaurants have chosen not to join Hong Kong’s new “vaccine bubble” to avoid burdening staff and customers, amid confusion over the rules and the post-launch release of official documents and tools underpinning the system.

On the Covid-19 scheme’s first day, several operators told the Post they would stick with 10pm closures and four-person table limits from the older regime because they did not want the hassle of forcing employees to get vaccinated or seek exemptions.

The government earlier this week announced the reopening of bars and other entertainment venues from Thursday, with social-distancing restrictions on restaurants also relaxed through a complicated new set of rules.

The multi-tiered system, which in many instances requires both customers and staff to be inoculated, is designed to boost the city’s flagging Covid-19 vaccination drive.

Seafood Delight Group – which runs 12 Chinese restaurants with 400 employees, about half of whom have not been vaccinated – were among the businesses continuing to operate outside the bubble on its first day.

Chairman David Leung Chi-wai said the government’s eleventh-hour requirement for staff to produce a medical certificate when seeking vaccination exemptions was complicating an already very confusing situation.

“I will need to have further meetings with health officials about the execution details before we can make any move [to join the bubble],” he said.

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