Hong Kong residents are reportedly rushing to get vaccinated against COVID-19 because they fear the reopening of the border with mainland China will result in an influx of cases.
Appointments are fully booked on the island — in some cases through February, according to Reuters, which said vaccine uptake was sluggish at first but that 83% of Hong Kong residents have received three doses of the BioNTech shots or China’s Sinovac version.
Hong Kong is working to reopen the border and relax travel rules after the communist government in Beijing made a U-turn on its zero-COVID rules, sparking a flood of infections.
Scientists say China is ill-prepared for the onslaught, given the lack of immunity from prior infection and fears that domestic vaccines aren’t as effective against severe disease as the mRNA shots used in the West.
The South China Morning Post reports up to 20,000 shots are being delivered in Hong Kong per day, a three-month high amid heightened fears of illness.
Hong Kong is also lifting its ban on hamster imports. The prohibition on incoming rodents was imposed last year after the virus was discovered in a pet shop, leading to an unusual effort to gather and kill the pets.
For more information, visit The Washington Times COVID-19 resource page.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.