Lawmakers call for $5,000 handout to encourage COVID-19 vaccination

Hong Kong lawmakers suggested that residents should receive up to HK$5,000 (US$645) as a cash incentive for getting the COVID-19 vaccine when the first million doses arrive in January.

In a Legislative Council meeting Wednesday, lawmakers questioned Secretary for Food and Health Sophia Chan about the government’s plan for boosting the city’s vaccination rate.

Pro-establishment lawmaker Leung Che-cheung said that people should be given HK$5,000 (US$645) for getting vaccinated, saying, “If there is nothing to motivate residents to be vaccinated, it will be the end of Hong Kong.”

Chan Kin-por, a lawmaker representing the insurance sector, also said that people should be rewarded for getting the vaccine.

The suggestions echo voices in the US and the UK, where COVID-19 misinformation—including to do with vaccines—is rife. Some academics and economists have proposed a financial incentive to encourage the public to get vaccinated.

Discussion around the topic is controversial, with some arguing that a cash incentive could fuel vaccine hesitancy and lead people to believe it cannot be safe if you need to be paid to get it.

The first batch of the vaccine, from mainland Chinese manufacturer Sinovac Biotech, will arrive in Hong Kong as early as next month.

The government said it has also procured vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech and AstraZeneca, which will be available later next year.

Sophia Chan told lawmakers Wednesday that the government has secured vaccine jabs to cover 1.5 times the population of the city.

Vaccines in Hong Kong will first be administered to high-risk groups, such as health care workers, those with chronic illness, and the elderly.

Ref: Coconuts