Teachers and elderly home staff urged to get jabs

Chief Secretary Matthew Cheung has on Sunday called on teaching staff to get inoculated against Covid-19 as soon as possible, saying information provided by around 2,000 schools across Hong Kong shows that only about 18 percent of them have received the jabs.

Writing in his weekly blog, Cheung said while Hong Kong people should be commended for abiding by the territory’s anti-epidemic policies, the only way to truly curb the spread of the virus is to get vaccinated.

The government last week decided to lower the age limit for BioNTech jabs to people as young as 12 years old in a bid to further boost the city’s inoculation rate.

The Chief Secretary said the vaccination arrangements will be announced very soon, and urged people not to hesitate in getting the shots.

Labour secretary Law Chi-kwong, meanwhile, said the government may adjust its policies to boost the vaccination rate within elderly homes.

He said in his blog that it’s not ideal that only 23 percent of care home staff, and around 3 percent of elderly home residents across the territory have received at least one jab.

He cited the UK and Ontario in Canada as examples, saying the majority of care home residents and staff there had been vaccinated.

He said there’s no reason why Hong Kong shouldn’t also achieve a higher take-up rate.