Temp vaccine pass rules adjusted

September 16, 2022

The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government today announced that it will revise the provisional vaccine pass arrangement applicable to all inbound travellers from tomorrow, requiring them to have received at least two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine.

 

It said the revision was made after considering that COVID-19 vaccines have been widely administered in places outside Hong Kong and the local vaccine pass requirements will be further strengthened.

 

The provisional vaccine pass arrangement for inbound travellers was launched in May to facilitate the implementation of the vaccine pass.

 

The consideration then was that travellers coming from places outside Hong Kong, including the Mainland, Macau, Taiwan and overseas regions, might not be able to receive the required dosage in relevant places as stipulated under the local vaccine pass.

 

The arrangement at the time could provide sufficient time for those who intend to stay in Hong Kong for a longer period of time to receive additional vaccine doses in the city so as to comply with the vaccine pass requirements, and facilitate short-term travellers in entering vaccine pass applicable premises for their daily activities.

 

Under the current national framework of joint prevention and control, being vaccinated is not a general requirement for cross-province, city or district travelling. There is also no vaccination requirement for travellers entering the Mainland from Hong Kong.

 

As such, the Hong Kong SAR Government has no plan to impose any vaccination requirement on travellers from the Mainland so as to avoid hindering the normal flow of personnel between the two places.

 

Starting tomorrow, the vaccination requirements for inbound travellers to be issued with the provisional vaccine pass will be aligned, under which people aged 12 or above are required to be fully vaccinated. They must receive the required dosage in accordance with the List of COVID-19 Vaccines Recognised for Specified Purposes, referring to two doses in general.

 

Those who had been infected with COVID-19 and recovered are required to have received one dose in order to be classified as fully vaccinated.

 

People who are unfit for vaccination due to health reasons bearing a relevant proof issued by a medical practitioner, or those who have received one dose of a recognised COVID-19 vaccine and hold a vaccination record but unfit to receive the second dose because of health reasons with a relevant proof issued by a medical practitioner will also be considered as eligible to be issued with the provisional vaccine pass.

 

The medical certificate must indicate in Chinese or English the health reasons for the individual being unfit for vaccination.

 

Considering that in places outside Hong Kong, vaccination for children aged 11 or below started later than that for adults, such children will be issued with the provisional vaccine pass without being vaccinated at this stage.

 

The Hong Kong SAR Government stressed that the provisional vaccine pass arrangement is applicable to all inbound travellers, including Hong Kong residents and non-Hong Kong residents as well as travellers from the Mainland, Macau, Taiwan and overseas places.

 

It called on travellers who intend to stay in Hong Kong for a longer period of time to receive the required dosage of a vaccine in the city according to the vaccination requirements under the vaccine pass as soon as possible upon their arrival in Hong Kong, so that they can continue to enter premises subject to the vaccine pass after the expiry of the provisional one.

 

Those subject to compulsory quarantine and eligible for obtaining the provisional vaccine pass will be issued with a compulsory quarantine order together with the pass for local use at boundary control points upon arrival in Hong Kong.

 

People arriving from the Mainland or Macau and are not subject to compulsory quarantine, including those who enter Hong Kong through the Return2hk or Come2hk schemes, may declare their arrival record at the 18 designated post offices for obtaining the provisional vaccine pass.

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