{"id":1927,"date":"2021-04-14T15:27:34","date_gmt":"2021-04-14T07:27:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.boasecohencollins.com\/?p=1927"},"modified":"2021-04-14T15:27:37","modified_gmt":"2021-04-14T07:27:37","slug":"dose-of-reality-keeping-us-firmly-grounded","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.boasecohencollins.com\/zh-hant\/%e7%b6%b2%e8%aa%8c\/dose-of-reality-keeping-us-firmly-grounded\/","title":{"rendered":"Dose of reality keeping us firmly grounded"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Hong Kong, 14 April 2021:<\/strong> Six-year-olds can be refreshingly blunt with their questions. \u201c<em>Gung gung<\/em> [grandfather], when can I go to my house?\u201d asks grandson Nathan. He\u2019s referring to our idyllic family retreat on Australia\u2019s Gold Coast where, in normal circumstances, we typically stay two or three times a year. I do my best to explain that the answer depends on Hong Kong\u2019s mass vaccination drive: the more people who have their Covid-19 jab, the quicker we will return to normal life. Next query: \u201cWhy aren\u2019t people getting vaccinated?\u201d Well that, young man, is more difficult to summarise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After 47 days, about 918,700 doses of vaccines have been administered. Some 615,300 citizens (just 8.2% of the population) have received their first dose. Of these, around 303,400 people have also had their second jab and can be considered fully inoculated. In the world table of percentage of population with at least one dose, Hong Kong is 53<sup>rd<\/sup>, sandwiched between Grenada and Latvia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Our city\u2019s sluggish vaccination drive is both frustrating and perplexing. Everyone is offered a choice of two excellent vaccines, either German-made BioNTech or mainland-produced Sinovac, and the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.covidvaccine.gov.hk\/en\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">online booking system<\/a> is simple and efficient. The processing of people at vaccination centres is practically flawless while the staff are magnificent. I can vouch for this, having received both my jabs, and my friends report a similar experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So why the hesitancy? At the core of it is distrust of our government \u2013 stretching back to the 2019 protests, or even further for some \u2013 and inadequate public health messaging. Throw in scare stories about (unrelated) patient fatalities and people receiving the wrong jab, plus a 12-day suspension of BioNTech due to packaging defects, and you have a less than ideal situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Complacency is another factor. It must be acknowledged that Hong Kong is among the world leaders regarding how it has coped with the pandemic, with remarkably low infection and fatality rates. Illustrating this, the city confirmed just three new local cases yesterday with a further 10 imported, taking our cumulative total to 11,607 with 208 related fatalities. We are told to expect five new infections today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While some of this successful Covid-19 mitigation is down to generally sensible (though occasionally overly-cautious and inconsistent) government policies, much of it is due to the diligence of citizens who remember the 2003 SARS outbreak. Daily life has been considerably less disrupted than elsewhere. Perhaps this explains, in part, the public\u2019s leaden response to being inoculated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Our government is finally (belatedly, some may say) facing up to the issue of vaccine hesitancy and attempting to \u2013 ahem \u2013 inject some urgency into its programme. In front of a huge backdrop proclaiming \u201cA new direction in fighting the pandemic\u201d (this administration LOVES slogans), Chief Executive Carrie Lam on Monday announced citizens would be allowed to dine out in larger groups and access travel privileges under \u201cvaccination bubble\u201d incentives aimed at boosting the jabs rate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>From 29 April (yes, you read that correctly, another two weeks to wait), social distancing measures at restaurants will be relaxed in a phased approach based on staff and customers being vaccinated and the latter using the government\u2019s \u201cLeave Home Safe\u201d risk-exposure notification app; under similar conditions, bars and pubs will be allowed to reopen at limited capacity; fully inoculated people can visit care homes after passing a rapid virus test; and there is the likelihood of reduced quarantine requirements for fully vaccinated arrivals from lower-risk countries. As well, the authorities have revived talks with Singapore about a travel bubble for vaccinated people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Some employers in our city\u2019s floundering F&amp;B industry are unimpressed, saying the government is unfairly making them responsible for solving the city\u2019s vaccination problems. But Ms Lam is unrepentant. While denying the plans are intended to coerce residents into taking the jab, she admits the vaccination rate is \u201cnot very satisfactory\u201d and insists her administration is providing a \u201ctimetable and road map\u201d for returning to normal life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With respect \u2013 and fully recognising the Chief Executive and her advisers are facing unprecedented challenges \u2013 her timetable is vague and the road map fuzzy. There are no identified milestones or stated targets such as, \u201cWhen we reach X number of vaccinations, Y will happen.\u201d British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who has taken his fair share of flak this past year, has explicitly outlined his government\u2019s lockdown exit strategy, with the goal of 21 June for removing all social distancing restrictions. As a result, people have headed to vaccination centres in droves. The UK has administered almost 40 million vaccination doses; 48% of its citizens have received at least one jab.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It can be summed up thus: Boris, the savvy politician, has communicated clearly that the benefits of vaccination massively outweigh the risks; Carrie, the self-proclaimed administrator, hasn\u2019t. Perhaps Nathan, in his endearingly direct and persistent manner, could ask her why.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Stay safe and well, everybody!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Colin Cohen<\/strong><br><strong>Senior Partner<\/strong><br><strong>Boase Cohen &amp; Collins<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hong Kong, 14 April 2021: Six-year-olds can be refreshi [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1924,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1927","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-53"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Dose of reality keeping us firmly grounded - \u5e03\u9ad8\u6c5f\u5f8b\u5e2b\u884c<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.boasecohencollins.com\/zh-hant\/%e7%b6%b2%e8%aa%8c\/dose-of-reality-keeping-us-firmly-grounded\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"zh_TW\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Dose of reality keeping us firmly grounded - 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