Editorial | Careful deliberation needed before deciding to ban the unvaccinated

Officials argue that it is only fair for those who have been vaccinated to get on with daily life while imposing bans on those without immunity. While such restrictions have yet to be fully explained, there are already concerns that they will go too far

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A poster advertising the vaccination programme outside a community vaccination centre in Hong Kong. Photo: Bloomberg

Published: 10:44pm, 5 Jun 2021Updated: 10:44pm, 5 Jun 2021

Hong Kong has so far been using the carrot approach to ramp up its sluggish Covid-19 inoculation rate. This includes offering fully vaccinated people the chance to get free air tickets, metro passes and a HK$10 million flat. The stick, however, has not been ruled out. Officials say those who shun their shots may be banned from certain venues in the event of another major outbreak. The latter move is no doubt controversial and requires careful deliberation.

With the vaccination drive ending in September, the government obviously wants to get as many people inoculated as possible in coming months. The launch of the Early Vaccination for All campaign, along with an array of rewards as incentives, is therefore timely and appropriate. With roughly 20 per cent of the population inoculated so far, there is plenty of catching up to do.

Questions arose when the government warned of potentially banning unvaccinated people from visiting restaurants and other high-risk premises in the event of another wave of infections. With the months-long fourth wave of the outbreak barely over, the revised strategy has inevitably given the impression that the uncooperative ones are to be punished. Officials argue that instead of shutting down certain premises in the event of another outbreak, it is only fair for those who have taken the jab to get on with their daily life as much as possible while imposing restrictions on those without immunity.

Having gone through rounds of lockdowns and restrictions over the past 15 months, the government is not wrong in trying to keep disruption to a minimum, especially for people who are less vulnerable. This same principle applied when the quarantine arrangements and restrictions on restaurants and other premises were eased earlier under the so-called vaccine bubble approach.

Exactly what restrictions would be imposed has yet to be fully explained, but already there are concerns that proposed bans on unvaccinated people go too far. Dine-in restaurants were not off limits to customers without immunity through four previous waves of outbreak, so why would unvaccinated customers be totally banned in the event of another wave?