HONG KONG: Thailand, Malaysia and other Southeast Asian countries subject to Hong Kong's strictest entry and quarantine rules could be next in line for recognition of their Covid-19 vaccination records, the health minister has revealed, raising hopes fully inoculated Hong Kongers there could soon return.
Answering questions from lawmakers in the Legislative Council on Wednesday, Secretary for Food and Health Sophia Chan Siu-chee said the government had already begun talks with some countries on the issue, and revealed that Southeast Asian nations were top priority.
"We will handle the issue next with some Asean countries, such as Thailand and Malaysia," she said, referring to the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
Just one new coronavirus case was reported in the city on Wednesday, involving a full vaccinated traveller arriving from Greece. The patient is asymptomatic.
Hong Kong has confirmed a total of 12,113 Covid-19 infections, and 212 related deaths.
Currently, only fully inoculated residents can enter Hong Kong if arriving from one of the more than 20 locations ranked as "high-risk" on the city's three-tiered system. They must also have a negative pre-departure virus test result, quarantine for 21 days in a hotel and take a total of seven tests upon arrival.
But Hong Kongers in many of those countries, including India, Pakistan and Thailand, have been barred from returning because their vaccination records are not recognised by the Hong Kong government, as they were not issued in a country deemed a "stringent regulatory authority" by the World Health Organization.
Last week, Hong Kong struck a deal with the Philippines and Indonesia, both of which are in the high-risk group, to recognise vaccination records issued to foreign domestic helpers, after concerns were raised about the acute shortage of workers in the city.
After an outcry by other stranded Hong Kongers in those two countries, the government on Monday expanded the recognition to all fully vaccinated residents there, not just domestic helpers.
Chan said while Hong Kong wanted a similar deal with other countries in the region, officials still had to proceed with caution to mitigate risks brought by fake records and false results.
The minister said she believed recognition of Thai records would be more straightforward, as its inoculation programme was run by the state.
At the legislative meeting, Chan was also asked about the recent shift in rhetoric by the government in emphasising "full vaccination" by all residents, instead of a herd immunity level of 70% coverage.
She said apart from residents in their seventies, a demographic in which about 30% of people had received the vaccine, and those over 80, which had barely more than 10% of people inoculated, the population in other age groups already had 50 to 70% coverage.
"As Covid-19 variants sweep across the world, and we have listened to the experts' views on the evolving pandemic, we believe 70% coverage is not enough, and we hope all who can receive a vaccine will do so," Chan said.
Yiu Si-wing, the lawmaker for the tourism sector, said because Thailand and Malaysia were mainly holiday destinations for Hong Kongers, recognising vaccine records was unlikely to revive travel to those countries as few people would want to go through a 21-day quarantine on their return.
However, it may help some residents who had been stranded in those destinations while on business, or international students hoping to return to the city to continue their studies, Yiu added.
Chan's comments were of little consolation to Anilesh Kumar who started a petition calling for the resolution of the vaccine recognition issue for Hong Kongers with family in India.
The Baptist University researcher, who has been separated from his wife and child for six months, said the country seemed to be at the back of the queue.
He had heard nothing from either the Indian consulate, or the Hong Kong government.
"Nothing has changed for thousands of us Indians whose home is Hong Kong," Kumar said.
