Hongkongers Skeptical of Vaccine Program

Professors reveal the acceptance of vaccines in HK is low

 

A lot of conversations in Hong Kong these days are about asking each other if they will get the vaccine. One would think Hongkongers who are so keen to travel would be up for it, but apparently not.

Chinese University's medical school did a survey gauging their receptiveness to the vaccine and only 37.2 percent were willing to get the jab.

Only 37 percent are willing to get the jab

"It's a very low figure, and we are a bit worried about it, as it is just around half of the recommended vaccination rate of 70 percent," said Professor Paul Chan Kay-sheung, chairman of the university's department of microbiology during a press conference today.

The survey of 1,200 residents was done between July 27 and August 27, well before the government announced its procurement plan.

He says the percentage is significantly lower than the acceptance rates of 60 to 90 percent in countries such as Australia, Germany, Britain and the United States.

In the breakdown of the age groups in Hong Kong, 40 percent of those aged 18 to 24 were willing to get the vaccine, while those 25 to 34 were the least receptive at 24.4 percent. The trend increased with the age of the respondents, with 47.6 percent of those 65 and older keen on getting vaccinated.

Many are concerned about side effects of the jab

Professor Martin Wong Chi-sang, from the university's public health noted young people may not be interested because it would be difficult to schedule a vaccination while working, or perhaps they felt they were healthy enough to avoid being infected.

Some of the respondents were concerned about the side effects of the vaccination, while those with chronic diseases were more interested in getting the jab.

However, the survey does not attribute the current political environment as a factor. The integrity of Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor has fallen so low that trust in the government has plummeted.

At first she claimed there would be no choice in which vaccine people would get, making residents concerned about possibly having to get the one from Sinovac from China, which was found to be only 78 percent effective in trials in Brazil compared to 95 percent for Pfizer-BioNTech and the jab from AstraZeneca-Oxford University at about 90 percent.

It's quite obvious most people want the non-Chinese vaccines for their effectiveness.

People would rather have Lam get vaccinated first

Many are calling for Lam to publicly be injected with the Sinovac vaccine first and then they will decide if they will follow suit.

This is where Hong Kong is at now -- highly skeptical and not supportive of the government's policies and decisions when it comes to fighting the pandemic. Perhaps that explains why the fourth wave still hasn't been tamed despite Lam's goal of getting the number of infections down to zero, which is quite an impossible task when she still hasn't shut down dance clubs that started this latest wave...