To convince people to get vaccinated, open Hong Kong’s borders

Borders cannot stay closed forever. Hong Kong must eventually re-enter the world economy as a trading hub and global city
Caution must give way to the fact vaccines are the ultimate protection, and those who do not get vaccinated can no longer expect the government to protect them in other ways

Collin Levy

Published: 6:45am, 6 Jun 2021

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During the past year, as the world struggled with Covid-19 and politicised its prevention, Hong Kong has been a beacon of sanity and rational behaviour, managing infections and quelling multiple waves of the virus.

Unlike the United States, where the question of masking became a partisan issue, Hong Kong has seen nearly universal wearing of masks and united community action against the virus.

Now, suddenly the tide of rationality has turned. As wealthy countries around the world begin to return to normal with vaccination rates over 50 per cent, Hong Kong is struggling to get residents to vaccinate despite a well-organised distribution system and a stockpile of vaccines.

To convince the vaccine-hesitant, the government is considering programmes that would encourage people to take the shot or open restaurants and bars only for the vaccinated in the event of a fifth wave.

Here is a better idea: open the borders. They cannot stay closed forever, after all. Europe has already reopened its borders to vaccinated travellers from the US. Domestic travel in the US is soaring as vaccinated citizens head off on long-awaited summer holidays.

On Thursday, health secretary Sophia Chan approved the BioNTech vaccine for children aged 12 and over, paving the way for them to be vaccinated by the time school restarts in the autumn. With that safety measure in place, the city should now announce a reasonable future date for reopening to all visitors and business travellers without quarantine.

Doing so would put residents on notice that the safe bubble of the city’s low Covid-19 infection rates – which creates little incentive for vaccination – cannot be sustained forever. Hong Kong must eventually re-enter the world economy as a trading hub and a global city, launching foreign travellers into mainland China and elsewhere in Asia.

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According to Hong Kong Tourism Commission data, tourism represented about 4 per cent of Hong Kong’s 2017 GDP. By 2018, the city saw more than 65 million visitors, an 11.4 per cent gain over the year before.

Today, hotels are nearly empty but for mandated quarantine stays, and the overall economy fell 6.1 per cent in 2020, a sharper decline than even during the Asian financial crisis in 1998. Mainland visitors, who make up the majority of visitors and who come to do business and shop in Hong Kong’s luxury stores, are a fraction of their previous numbers.

The much-discussed Hong Kong-Singapore travel bubble has been shelved multiple times as both cities have tried to tamp down new waves of the virus.

The Hong Kong government has already recognised the imperative for business travellers, recently enacting new rules to allow quarantine-free travel for financial executives. A more categorical opening must be announced to break the pattern of vaccine complacency.

Older residents currently see little incentive with virus numbers low. Many young residents might resist vaccination because it is offered by a government they mistrust after the 2019-2020 political protests.

Today, around 30,000 people in the city are getting vaccinated on any given day. New incentives like the chance to win an apartment for the vaccinated may increase numbers somewhat, but not enough. The city’s free vaccines are going begging, with some 800,000 doses of the BioNTech vaccine expected to expire in August if unused or not donated to other countries. Less than 15 per cent of the city is fully vaccinated.

Reopening the borders would lead to an inevitable surge in infections. Any introduction of Covid-19 in the never-infected population will result in numbers higher than the single-digit infection rates the city has aimed to maintain.

But those who are vaccinated will be protected, and the city’s vaccinated health care workers will be able to manage any spike without personal risk or danger of bringing the virus home to their families.

Schools have always been a concern, and they will inevitably see some infections when the country reopens, but those aged 12 and over can now be vaccinated and studies have shown the risks to younger children are low.

Families with school-age children will have an additional incentive to vaccinate all members who are eligible to ensure vulnerable older residents are protected. If virus numbers rise, schools could encourage all eligible family members to be vaccinated for children to safely attend in-person schooling.

The Hong Kong government’s measures to protect the population, including rigorous testing for incoming travellers, long quarantine periods and banning outside visitors, have given lucky residents – of which I am one – a chance to live out one of the worst years in memory in relative normality and without major lockdowns or fear of contracting the virus.

That protective caution must now give way to the fact that vaccines are the ultimate protection for residents and those who choose not to avail themselves of that protection can no longer expect the government to protect them in other ways.

Hong Kong cannot operate indefinitely in isolation. Its people – especially young people whose mistrust of the government has contributed to vaccine hesitancy – need to retake the initiative and control their own destiny.

Collin Levy, a writer in Hong Kong, was a speech-writer for US president George W. Bush