People sit in a rest area after receiving the COVID-19 coronavirus vaccine at a vaccination center set up inside a train station in Hong Kong on March 11, 2022. (DALE DE LA REY / AFP)
HONG KONG – The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government will suspend for now its arrangement for refusing the acceptance of COVID-19 vaccination medical exemption certificates suspected of abuse in issuance.
The suspension followed an interim injunction by the High Court on Tuesday, which was handed down considering a pending substantive hearing of a relevant judicial review case, the government said in a statement.
Earlier, seven private doctors were suspected of failing to provide a proper medical consultation to patients in accordance with the Department of Health’s guidelines and abusing the issuance of jab exemption certificates. The government then decided that such exemption documents issued by the aforementioned doctors would not be accepted for Vaccine Pass purposes from Wednesday.
In view of Tuesday’s HC interim injunction, the government will put on hold its plan to refuse the jab exemption certificates until the court has conducted a substantive hearing on the judicial review and given further instruction
People may put their own life at risk if they continue to delay vaccination according to the problematic medical recommendations, the government said on Tuesday.
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“The government urges relevant individuals to seek medical consultation again from other doctors depending on their needs to ascertain whether they are suitable for receiving COVID-19 vaccination or can continue to be medically exempted,” reads the statement.
People in need may also visit general out-patient clinics (GOPCs) under the Hospital Authority where public sector doctors can ascertain whether they can continue to obtain medical exemption according to their clinical condition. They will be exempted from the service fee of the GOPC (HK$50) for such consultation services.
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In addition to making appointments through the telephone appointment system or the "Book GOPC" function in the HA's one-stop mobile application "HA Go", people may also visit the GOPCs under the HA directly. The clinics will arrange for them to seek consultation on the same day or make appointments for consultation.