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Vaccination must be requested by both travellers and travelers

2021-04-25T21:12:03.902Z


The Hong Kong and Singapore governments are discussing a tourism bubble plan. Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said earlier that Hong Kong people must be vaccinated with two doses of the new crown virus vaccine before they can participate, but Singapore residents who enter the country are said to not need to be vaccinated before departure.


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Written by: Commentary Editing Room

2021-04-25 07:00

Last update date: 2021-04-25 07:00

The governments of Hong Kong and Singapore are discussing the tourism bubble plan. Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said earlier that Hong Kong people must be vaccinated with two doses of the new crown virus vaccine before they can participate.

If this news is true, the Hong Kong government's easing of the requirements for Singapore entrants is indeed questionable. Apart from the suspicion of unequal epidemic prevention, it can even be described as a direct violation of the current entry quarantine requirements.

A few days ago, there are rumors that Hong Kong and Singapore’s travel bubbles will be implemented at the end of May. Passengers from both places must complete virus testing before departure, and use their own tracking apps when they arrive. However, the vaccination before departure is not the same between the two places. Requirements-Hong Kong residents must complete two doses of vaccinations and wait for 14 days when leaving the country. Those who come from Singapore do not need to be vaccinated.

"Bloomberg" quoted people familiar with the matter as pointing out that Singapore unilaterally temporarily stopped the tourism bubble.

(Profile picture)

Vaccination schedule should be equal

Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said a few days ago: "It is our requirement that people who leave Hong Kong and enter Singapore need to be vaccinated. It is not a requirement of the Singapore government. Our request is because we want to provide incentives to encourage Hong Kong citizens to get vaccinated."

The Hong Kong government voluntarily requires Hong Kong travellers to be vaccinated to provide incentives to encourage Hong Kong citizens to get injections. This approach is quite reasonable. However, based on reciprocal anti-epidemic conditions, the authorities have already required Hong Kong people to travel for injections and should also make the same requirements for Singapore arrivals. That's right.

Furthermore, the arrangement of not requiring Singaporeans arriving in Hong Kong to be vaccinated is also inconsistent with the current quarantine arrangement.

At present, people arriving in Hong Kong from Singapore are subject to mandatory quarantine for 14 days plus seven days of self-monitoring regardless of whether they have been vaccinated.

Carrie Lam expressed her intention to reduce the compulsory quarantine period for vaccinated people to seven days to demonstrate that vaccination can facilitate travel. However, if she allows travelers who do not need vaccinations to arrive in Hong Kong through the travel bubble without being quarantined, wouldn't it be self Negative incentives for vaccination?

Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor pointed out that because vaccination had been stalled, she provided incentives to the public.

(Photo by Liang Pengwei)

Even though the pace of vaccination in the two places is different, the boundary of Hong Kong's epidemic prevention must be maintained

It is worth adding that Singapore’s current vaccination targets are narrower than those in Hong Kong. This is probably one of the reasons why the Hong Kong government exempts other travelers from being vaccinated.

According to information from the Ministry of Health of Singapore, local arrangements for vaccination are still mainly in priority groups such as medical care and the elderly. Those who can apply for early vaccination are limited to those who urgently need to go abroad for medical, humanitarian, study abroad, employment and other reasons. Another official said that they are under 45 years of age. The patient will not be allowed to make an appointment for vaccination until early June.

It is precisely because the pace of vaccination arrangements in Singapore is different from that in Hong Kong, and the vaccine takes more than a month from the first injection to before and after the establishment of sufficient antibodies. Therefore, even if the tourism bubble can be activated next month, there should be many young people in the local area. Family visitors were not able to catch injections or develop antibodies in time.

If the travel bubble requires the same vaccination requirements for both travelers, I am afraid that only a few Singaporeans will meet the relevant conditions by then.

The picture shows the outbreak of the new crown epidemic in the foreign workers' dormitory in Westwoodlands, Singapore on April 22, 2021, and the foreign workers are sent to isolation facilities.

(Reuters)

Nevertheless, epidemic prevention is always the top priority for Hong Kong, and vaccination can reduce the chance of passengers contracting the virus before and after departure and infecting others. It is responsible to the people of the two places, so Hong Kong must stick to this boundary.

At most, the tourism bubbles in the two places are gradual. First, let those who do not meet the qualifications follow the current quarantine arrangements. After most people have completed the vaccination, the tourism bubbles will naturally also be widely used.

The people of Hong Kong and Singapore are eagerly looking forward to resuming their travels, but the epidemic is unpredictable after all, and the bubble was put on hold at the end of last year due to a new wave of epidemics in Hong Kong, and today the epidemic in Singapore is showing signs of rebound. It is said that the local government is For this reason, the temporary cancellation of the arrangements announced last Thursday (22nd) reflects that the governments of the two places have actually tried to act cautiously in consideration of the epidemic.

Since the details of the bubble have not yet been announced, if the Hong Kong government does not require vaccinations for those arriving in Hong Kong, it can take the opportunity to make up for the relevant conditions. Even if that may reduce the number of eligible participants in the initial stage, it does not mean that the Hong Kong government can let go. I believe the Singaporean government and people will also understand.

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Source: hk1

All news articles on 2021-04-25

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