Lam says Govt Shouldn't Give Cash for Jabs

Vaccines will expire soon if people don't get inoculated

 

Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor has no clue how to get more residents vaccinated.

It's gotten to the point where millions of vaccine vials will be dumped because they will expire soon and there are not enough willing to get the jab.

Tsang tells people to hurry and get the jab

Thomas Tsang, a former controller of the Centre for Health Protection warned Hongkongers they only had a "three-month window" before the vaccines would be out of date.

"The vaccines all have expiry dates," Tsang said on RTHK Radio. "They cannot be used after the expiry date and the community vaccination centres for BioNTech will, according to present plans, cease operating after September."

He added it was "just not right" that Hong Kong was sitting on an unused pile of doses while the rest of the world "is scrambling for vaccines".

On Twitter many were calling for the rest of the vaccines to be sent to Taiwan and India; a colleague had a brash idea of bringing Indians to Hong Kong to get the jab, but of course that would never happen.

In any event employers were wringing their hands in despair after a report that Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels is offering HK$2,000 for each employee who gets vaccinated, and another HK$2,000 for the 1,700-strong staff if at least 70 percent of them get jabbed.

Was there a sudden uptick in injections?

Lam thinks businesses should give jab incentives

But is it really up the responsibility of businesses to do the job of the government to urge people to get inoculated for the benefit of the entire community?

Apparently the city's leader thinks so.

This morning Lam dismissed the idea of paying cash handouts to residents to get the jab.

"To offer cash or something physical to encourage vaccination shouldn't be done by the government and may even cause the opposite effect," she said.

Lam felt it was better for employers and private organizations to dole out cash or gifts as incentives.

So here we are looking silly with so many vaccines on hand and not enough people willing to roll up their sleeves to do their part, or at least selfishly protect themselves from being serious affected by Covid-19, when people in other countries including Canada, Taiwan and India are desperate for the jab.

At this rate Hong Kong's economy will not improve significantly and more importantly the opportunity to travel is getting further away when people are not getting inoculated.

HSH that owns The Peninsula is giving out cash

It was announced that 40,000 mainlanders who hold two-way permits and 13,000 asylum seekers would be allowed to get the jab later in July. They might as well give them injections now since the vaccination centres have no lines these days...