Billy Wong Wai-yuk, the group’s executive secretary, said parents could be forced to leave young loved ones at home alone once the tougher requirement came into effect.

“Some parents are concerned because their kids fell sick for a prolonged period after taking the first jab,” Wong told a radio programme.

More children inoculated as Hong Kong readies to expand Covid-19 vaccine pass

According to government data, 67 per cent of the city’s 502,600 children between the age of three and 11 have received two does of a coronavirus vaccine, while 81.2 per cent have taken their first jab.

“For children aged five to seven, they often tag along with their parents to places such as supermarkets … But if some parents have not decided if they want to proceed with the second jab for their child, there’s a chance they may have to leave the kid at home,” Wong said. “Such risks can occur easily, so we are worried.”

Health authorities said they would announce details of the vaccine pass extension this week at the earliest, adding that children would have a two-month grace period to get the required jabs before the measure came into force.

Coronavirus infections have surged in Hong Kong recently, with the daily tally hovering around the 10,000 mark since last week. The city logged 10,021 cases on Monday, 152 of which were imported, and eight additional deaths.

Dr Albert Au Ka-wing, a principal medical and health officer at the Centre for Health Protection, said there were no signs the surge had plateaued.

Au said trends in hospitalisation and deaths among patients, as well as other indicators such as sewage sampling and projection models for the rate of virus transmission, all pointed to a rise in Covid-19 cases.

“For the upcoming Mid-Autumn Festival … we want to make a special call here to urge residents to cut down on cross-family gatherings and not attend them if they experience symptoms,” he said.

The latest daily coronavirus tally included 3,444 cases uncovered at 1,169 schools, comprising 2,864 students and 580 teaching staff. The figure was nearly tenfold the 337 such infections reported on Friday.

But Au said he believed the government would not consider suspending full-day, in-person classes for students despite the surge in cases, noting the rapid antigen test requirement at schools remained a “precise” and “effective” measure for curbing the spread of Covid-19 on campuses.

Hong Kong’s ‘reverse quarantine’ scheme could mean little to travellers

On the upcoming change to the vaccine pass, Wong said her organisation had received a dozen related phone calls and emails in the past few days. She also expressed concerns that children could be barred from venues managed by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department.

Wong warned that the long-term development of children would be affected without access to public venues. Children who were poorer, living in smaller environments and with special learning needs would be particularly affected, Wong added.

“For children, they don’t understand the situation fully. They will wonder what they did wrong and feel like they are being punished if they can’t enter places,” she said.

“I hope when authorities launch such a large-scale measure, they don’t just consider it from a public health and vaccination perspective, but also the long-term development of children.”

02:22

Hong Kong Covid-19 cases could peak at 20,000 a day, expert warns

Hong Kong Covid-19 cases could peak at 20,000 a day, expert warns

A mother surnamed Lau, who has a 10-year-old son, said parents should be given a choice on whether to vaccinate their children against Covid-19.

“Why couldn’t I have a choice? Why should my son be deprived of basic rights and freedom?” the housewife asked. “Why should I not be respected if I am concerned about the side effects of such new vaccines?”

Lau, who has received three coronavirus jabs, said the proposed extension of the vaccine pass would prohibit her son from entering venues such as the public swimming pool where he took lessons or the local golf course in Sai Kung if he was not inoculated.

Her family was considering whether to emigrate to a country which had chosen to “live with the virus” to ensure her son had the freedom to go wherever he needed to, she said.

Lau also urged authorities to release more information about severe local coronavirus cases of different ages being treated in intensive care to allow the public to weigh the risks of whether they should inoculate themselves against the virus.

But president of the Society of Hospital Pharmacists William Chui Chun-ming advised parents not to wait for the children’s version of the German-produced BioNTech vaccine, which authorities are still in talks to procure, and to take the available Chinese-made Sinovac jab instead.

Authorities in August reduced the age threshold for the Sinovac jab to six months, with 12.8 per cent of children in Hong Kong under the age of two, or more than 13,000, having taken their first shot of the vaccine so far.

Chui said it would take some time for BioNTech negotiations to be completed.

Are the new Omicron-focused boosters safe and effective?

Authorities earlier said they were making good progress on the procurement of the children’s BioNTech shot, despite comments from government pandemic adviser Professor Lau Yu-lung that a deal with the manufacturer might not be reached because it could be too costly.

Chui also urged residents not to wait for the bivalent Covid-19 booster shot which covers Omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5, as authorities on Monday said they had not yet received any applications from vaccine manufacturers regarding the roll-out of such jabs in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong’s Covid-19 tally stands at 1,592,420 cases and 9,732 related fatalities.

Additional reporting by William Yiu