Hong Kong vaccine pass: most ignore rules and get away with it, as there are few checks with hardly anyone booked
- Pandemic expert says scheme pushed more residents to get vaccinated and that’s what matters
- Police carried out 20 spot checks in two months, issued only one ticket, booked two restaurant patrons
Two months after Hong Kong introduced a vaccine pass for entry to shopping malls, restaurants and other public premises, residents are mostly ignoring the rules and getting away with it.
People are not stopped if they do not use their “Leave Home Safe” smartphone app to scan QR codes to register their entry to these premises.
Student Tony Lai, 22, said having to scan different QR codes at the lobby of a shopping centre and at shops and the food court was just too much of a bother and that was why most people ignored the rules.
“The government just wanted us to get our Covid-19 vaccine by implementing these cumbersome rules,” he said.
If the government was serious about the vaccine pass, he argued, the rules should be enforced more strictly by the police.
Under the vaccine pass scheme introduced on February 24, those aged 12 and above must use their the app to show proof of having received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine when entering government venues and 23 other types of premises, including restaurants, shopping centres, wet markets and supermarkets.
