World News

Free flights, lotteries, money: Hong Kong vaccine incentives Business and Economic News

When Hong Kong bar and nightclub owners met with city officials this month, they hoped how the government planned to vaccinate more populations that were largely resilient, allowing their businesses to open only to inoculated people.

Instead, officials turned the table around: asking what they would do to help promote one of the slowest vaccinations of Covid-19 in cities around the world.

“We were asked if we have any ideas or plans to increase the vaccination rate,” said Liu Wai, who represents the industry as president of the Hong Kong and Kowloon Ballroom and Nightclub Merchants Federation. A fifth of nightclubs have closed in the five months since the shutdown and the rest only get 10% of their regular revenue after reopening, he said, making it disappointing to see the vaccine rise.

The Carrie Lam administration is relying on local businesses and institutions to help integrate more and more people into convincing those backed by the Beijing-backed government in an atmosphere of mistrust in 2019 after widespread protests against China. Major companies, restaurants as well as schools have started paying money, offering extra free time and the chance to earn a $ 1.4 million apartment.

“Government officials have been unable to find a way to contact the community to promote the vaccine,” said Karen Grépin, an associate professor at the University of Public Health in Hong Kong. “It simply came to our notice then. But it is very difficult for them to drive, from a political point of view. It doesn’t mean they have to give up. They should find ways. But it means working through more trusted agents. “

More businesses and organizations are standing out. Last week, the city’s international airport announced that it would give away 60,000 flight tickets to people who were vaccinated before the September deadline. The Hong Kong Jockey Club, which runs the racetrack and betting facilities, has offered three paid special holiday days and additional insurance coverage to the workers who make the shot.

Regulators are also involved. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority has asked banks for permission to give workers a two-day paid vaccine, the Apple Daily reported on Monday. The HKMA, which declined to comment specifically on the interviews, confirmed that it had made a request to facilitate vaccinations.

Hong Kong Developers Chinese Estates Holdings Ltd. and the Sino Group’s Ng Teng Fong Charitable Foundation also provide a $ 10.8 million ($ 1.4 million) new apartment to vaccinated residents.

After offering some incentives, vaccination appointments have increased [File: Bloomberg]

Vaccine appointments were the highest in three weeks as the apartment lottery was announced and 17,700 people booked reservations to shoot BioNTech SE on Saturday, and another 10,500 appointments for Sinovac Biotech Ltd.

Hong Kong and Shanghai Hotels Ltd., which run the city’s historic Peninsula Hotel, have offered HK $ 2,000 to 1,500 staff in Hong Kong to inoculate, and an additional HK $ 2,000 if it is able to include 70% of its staff.

Local schools are also taking steps to encourage gunfire, requiring students staying in dormitories at the University of Hong Kong in China to be vaccinated, or else having to pay for Covid tests every two weeks.

While many vaccines around the world are looking for more vaccines, the Hong Kong government is in a unique position to develop hundreds of thousands of unused doses of mRNA vaccine developed by BioNTech SE and Pfizer Inc. If the vaccination rate does not rise, there is a risk that the city will be left behind, with other global centers resuming meetings and travel.

The government has tried to make vaccines more convenient, even though it has allowed businesses to organize local vaccinations. In mid-May, Deloitte announced that 170 workers had been inoculated in such a session.

According to Bloomberg’s Vaccine Tracker, only 13.4% of Hong Kong’s population has been completely inoculated despite the fact that Covid is one of the few places available to all adults for the shot. This is below other financial centers, such as Singapore, 28.3%, and London, 28.6%.

Leader Lam, who has long made suggestions to offer money or similar incentives to residents, argued last week that his government had already done its job by buying enough vaccines and making them freely available.

“We hope that institutions or entrepreneurs can provide economic incentives,” he said. “For the government, we will focus on politics.”

‘Can’t survive’

Some business owners and experts say the government is reluctant to take specific measures (such as easing mask orders or quarantine requirements for 14- to 21-day travelers) to reduce private efforts and in some cases contradict them.

Renowned Hong Kong investor and corporate governance activist David Webb scoffed at the offer of free flights for people vaccinated on Twitter last week on Twitter, and noted that anyone who won a ticket would have to take out a quarantine. Hong Kong is required to accommodate all fifty passengers in hotels, even if they have homes in the city.

“Take the vaccine, when you come back do you win the chance to pay for fifty or 3 weeks in the hotel?” It was written by Webb. “It’s hardly an attractive offering from this state-owned company.”

Because of the low vaccination rate, fully inoculated individuals should also follow COVID restrictions [File: Lam Yik/Bloomberg]

These movements to regain the freedoms of embedded people are becoming more and more widespread around the world. The U.S. and South Korea have both revoked foreign mask orders from people who have been vaccinated, and the European Union has said it will welcome vaccinated Americans this summer without tourists being quarantined.

The Hong Kong government says it cannot use these incentives because of the low protection rate of the population and the risk of spreading new variants – even though the current vaccination rate in South Korea is lower than the former British colony. On Friday, city officials said they would accept quarantine exemptions for some major bankers who were going to do business.

“If we can’t get the vaccination rate at around 70%, I don’t think we can relax by traveling at all social distance measures, masquerading. We’ll be left behind,” said Dr. Lam Ching Choi and executive board member Carrie Lami.

Hong Kong’s complex relationship with mainland China, the city wants to suspend local transmission before reopening the economically vital border, is also encouraging a conservative stance on officials.

Like many other Covid paradises in the Asia-Pacific region, where local cases have reached zero, the city remains at risk in its efforts to rule out all infections, especially as other economies accept that Covid-19 is endemic, and so on.

People are frustrated, even though they are completely embedded, they say they have suffered very harsh restrictions. For others who haven’t gotten the shot yet, the lack of calm has raised questions about why they should be bothered.

“You can’t survive like that when there are zero businesses,” said Chin Chun-wing, president of the Hong Kong Bar and Association Association. “No one will be vaccinated for a drink.”




Source link

Related Articles

Back to top button