A government adviser told CNBC on Wednesday that Hong Kong needs to stick to its zero-Covid strategy until more people are vaccinated.
Yuen Kwok-yung, a member of Hong Kong’s expert advisory board for Covid-19, said: “If 95% of our eligible population is fully vaccinated with three doses, the chances are we have can open its borders”.
The Chinese city is far from that goal. Only 68.6% of the total population had received two doses of the vaccine on Wednesday, according to government data. About 322,781 people, or about 4.4% of the population, received the third shot.
Yuen, who is also head of the microbiology department at the University of Hong Kong, said one way to increase vaccination rates is to require a vaccine passport to enter everyday life.
“Perhaps it is [the] There is only one way, he said, like Israel, to ensure that high vaccination rates are achieved. A “green card” gives them access to indoor locations such as restaurants, gyms, and movie theaters.
Zero-Covid Strategy
At the moment, Hong Kong cannot switch strategy, Yuen tells CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia.”
“At this stage, it remains the same,” he said. “We have to continue with the current near-zero policy.”
Hong Kong requires people entering the city to quarantine for up to 21 days and take multiple Covid-19 tests, measures that Yuen said are necessary to control the source of infection.
But the city’s zero-Covid approach is also One analyst told CNBC on Tuesday that the main disappointment for foreign businesses operating there.
However, the city has no intention of keeping zero-Covid in place indefinitely, Yuen said, just until it achieves “adequate” vaccination rates.
“It’s impossible to sustain it for more than three years,” he added. “I think in the coming years the government has to set a deadline when everyone must have a vaccine ticket … to get around.”
Vaccination is mandatory for some activities in Hong Kong, but limits on the unvaccinated are much more relaxed than in places like Israel and Singapore.
Hong Kong has reported 12,548 confirmed Covid cases since the start of the pandemic, including 34 of the omicron variant, according to government data as of Wednesday.
– Weizhen Tan of CNBC contributed to this report.
