INFO · Search
· Chinese version · Subscribe

Society

LegCo members: Ask schools to report vaccination numbers regularly

Photo Credit: Sophia Chan/Facebook

Pro-government Legislative Council members urged the Secretary for Education, Kevin Yeung, to require schools to report the number of students and staff who are vaccinated against COVID-19 in order to better monitor and handle the pandemic.

An Education Bureau (EDB) survey showed that as of May 2021, the total vaccination rate of the 2,000 schools, including kindergartens, primary and secondary schools, being polled was only 18%, according to a LegCo brief.

Addressing a LegCo panel on education today, Mr. Yeung also added that a further survey may be conducted to find out the number of vaccinations in schools.

Addressing a LegCo panel on education today, Mr. Yeung also added that a further survey may be conducted to find out the number of vaccinations in schools.

Some health experts have said that if schools’ vaccination rate reaches 70-80%, more school activities or extracurricular activities could be allowed. Mr. Yeung said, “In the months ahead, we hope to finalize the plan with the experts, we need to see what the epidemic situation is like.
If possible, we hope that schools can achieve a 70-80% vaccination rate and more activities can be held.”

Lau Kwok-fan, a legislator and member of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB), stressed that the government needs to have statistics on the number of persons vaccinated.

“Personally, now that we don’t have any survey to collect figures about teaching staff vaccination rate, I’m a bit disappointed with that because you might expect or want to achieve 70-80% rate to allow for more activities and yet you don’t have a mechanism to collect or to record the figures in relation to vaccination. That actually cannot support your goal,” Mr. Lau said.

However, Mr. Yeung said that schools can let the government know if they have reached a 70-80% vaccination rate. If they haven’t reached that rate, they would not be able to hold activities.

Photo Credit: Sophia Chan/Facebook

Mr. Yeung also noted that parents may be reluctant to get their kids vaccinated just for a full-day class and may think that half-day classes are better due to the pandemic situation.

Another LegCo member Ma Fung-kwok, representing the pro-Beijing New Century Forum, also pointed out a lack of updates with regards to the figures of vaccinated students and staff at schools. The government was not being proactive enough, he added.

“Teachers have a choice whether to get vaccinated against COVID-19 so whose responsibility is it? Vaccination is ruled out in mass everywhere in the world, but our government is still making this optional, they have not been proactive enough,” Mr. Ma added.

Photo Credit: Sophia Chan/Facebook

Meanwhile, the government school outreach service was launched today (Jul 2), and about 300 students, parents and teachers received COVID-19 vaccinations at a school in Tin Shui Wai.

Another 400 students, teachers and parents from three secondary schools also received vaccinations through the outreach service at a school in Kwun Tong.

Hong Kong has about 7.5 million people, of which about 2.3 million people had at least one dose and 1.5 million people were fully vaccinated as of July 1.

《The Young Reporter》

The Young Reporter (TYR) started as a newspaper in 1969. Today, it is published across multiple media platforms and updated constantly to bring the latest news and analyses to its readers.

Comments

100th Anniversary of CCP: Government Closes Victoria Park from Public Gathering, Collectors Queue for Commemorative Stamps

Loneliness during the pandemic