Hong Kong's Pathetic Vaccination Rate Needs a Boost

New survey says 39 percent still yet to get vaccinated

It is frustrating to find Hong Kong has still not reached herd immunity -- the magic 70 percent double inoculated after vaccines were made available in the spring. Currently the city is at 67.6 percent, with only 18 percent of those 80 years and older who are vaccinated.

More than 5,600 respondents to the Society of Hospital Pharmacists of Hong Kong's online survey, 59 percent had both jabs, while 39 percent had yet to get inoculated.

18 percent of those aged 80 and over are jabbed

Of those unvaccinated, 47 percent of them had no plans of getting jabbed at all, while 27 percent were still undecided. The remaining 26 percent planned to get vaccinated but unsure of when.

"As specialists, we know that this [reluctance] is not good... Even before Covid-19, vaccines in general could prevent a lot of potential deaths and serious conditions for other illnesses, so vaccines can help a lot," said infectious disease specialist Dr Wilson Lam.

But William Chui Chun-ming, president of the Society of Hospital Pharmacists, said it was "not the right moment" for the city to transition to coexisting with the virus given the current inoculation rate, particularly with so many elderly residents still unvaccinated.

"When the vaccination rate goes up to more than 90 percent, then we can consider living with the virus," he said.

Leung says vaccination is the only way out

But when will that be?

The rest of us who got inoculated early are still waiting for the rest of Hong Kong to get jabbed, but many still don't care to, which is infuriating because it prevents us from moving forward.

Respiratory medicine specialist Leung Chi-chiu, who was not involved with the survey, says Hong Kong, like the rest of the world, is tired of the pandemic, "but vaccination must be the way out".

He suggests the government continue to prod people to get the jab, but the authorities should escalate to preventing unvaccinated people from visiting shops and restaurants.

Government pandemic adviser Yuen Kwok-yung says Hong Kong needs to get to 99 percent of the population inoculated to prevent the healthcare system from being overwhelmed before opening up to the mainland and the rest of the world.

Kwok believes 99 percent need to be vaccinated

Chui urged the public to get their jabs immediately rather than wait for a second-generation vaccine, as the threat posed by the Omicron variant remained uncertain.

"You will have to wait at least half a year before there are new-generation vaccines that can tackle Omicron... and if there are more variants coming up, it will cause panic among residents," he said. 

So Hongkongers, please do your civic duty and get your jabs! The rest of us are counting on you to help keep everyone safe unless you want us to live in a hermit kingdom sealed off from the rest of the world forever...