Booking for HK’s vaccination scheme surges after eligibility criteria loosened

The number of people registering for Hong Kong’s Covid-19 vaccination scheme surged eightfold after the government lowered the eligibility bar on March 16.
On March 16, the online bookings for the two Covid-19 vaccines, namely Pfizer Inc.-BioNTech vaccine and Chinese-manufactured Sinovac, surged to 144,000 from 18,600 a day earlier.
Some 30,800 people reserved the Sinovac vaccine shots, whilst 113,200 others reserved BioNTech vaccines in the 24 hours ending at 8 p.m. on March 16, according to Bloomberg.
The move came amid the city’s previous low registration rate for the vaccination program and widespread worries about the potential side-effects after the jabs following several reported death cases.
On March 16, the Hong Kong government extended the Covid-19 vaccination programme to cover people aged between 30 and 59, students aged 16 or above studying outside Hong Kong, and domestic helpers.
After the expansion, the scheme will cover more than 5.5 million people, classified as a priority group in Hong Kong. The tally accounts for over 80% of the population aged 16 and above.
“Taking into account the supply of the vaccines and the operation of the vaccination programme, we have decided to expand the scope of the priority groups to allow more people to get vaccinated as soon as possible to protect oneself and others,” the HKSAR government said in a statement released on March 15.
China is planning to ease requirements for foreigners applying for mainland visas from Hong Kong if they’ve received a Chinese vaccine, something that reassures David Bonnet, managing partner at real estate and hospitality advisory firm Delta State Holdings Ltd. who signed up for a Sinovac shot.
“If you live in Hong Kong and Macau, getting one of the Chinese vaccines probably will give some tangible benefits,” he said. “I don’t want to be subject to quarantines and I hope it will be easier to travel with Chinese vaccines. My hope is to resume business as normal.”
There were seven death cases after vaccination registered in Hong Kong over the past two weeks. However, experts said that all of those cases involved chronically ill patients, so the events cannot be directly linked to the Chinese-manufactured Sinovac vaccines the patients took.
The government introduced the Covid-19 vaccination programme on February 26.
In Macau, a total of 69,504 people have made appointments for the vaccination scheme, of which 31,867 people have taken the first dose as of 4 p.m. yesterday, according to data published by the Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Center.
Health authorties deemed the current vaccination rate “not at satisfactory levels.” HT