Advertisement
Coronavirus pandemic
OpinionComment
Ken Chu
Ken Chu

Hong Kong must do whatever it takes to drive up Covid-19 vaccination rate

  • Countries that are ahead in the race to herd immunity are reopening their economy and borders, and societies grappling with vaccine hesitancy, like Hong Kong, must step up efforts to catch up
  • More information, incentives and an appeal to people’s sense of duty must all be tried

Reading Time:3 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
1
Miss Universe Andrea Meza, of Mexico, winner of the 69th annual Miss Universe competition, receives a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine at a CVS Pharmacy store in Manhattan, New York City, on May 26. In the US, half of the country’s adults are fully vaccinated. Photo: Reuters
Ken Chu

Last year, the world began its race to contain Covid-19. Despite the successful development of various vaccines, only a handful of countries appear to be ahead in the race.

Advertisement
These fortunate countries are mainly those that have rolled out mass vaccination programmes for their population, such as the US, the UK, Israel and China. In fact, the World Health Organization has said that some 10 countries in the world account for 75 per cent of the vaccine doses administered so far.

Vaccination is important. Preventive measures such as the frequent washing of hands, wearing masks and maintaining social distancing play a role in containing the virus spread, but getting people vaccinated is most vital, according to the WHO.

Many scientists agree that the vaccination rate needed to induce herd immunity is around 70 per cent of the population. Vaccination greatly reduces the risk of infection, and having a significant proportion of the population vaccinated will also create herd immunity, a wall of defence against the virus that will help to impede its further spread and possible mutation.

Countries with robust vaccination programmes have seen infection cases plummeting. The US, the UK and Israel are reopening their economies at speed. The European Commission recently announced plans for a digital Covid-19 certificate as proof of vaccination to enable people to travel freely within EU, heralding the widespread application of a Covid-19 passport for global travel.
Advertisement
Advertisement