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Hong Kong scraps mandatory COVID-19 vaccines for foreign domestic workers Toggle share menu
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Hong Kong scraps mandatory COVID-19 vaccines for foreign domestic workers
In this Saturday, May 1, 2021, file photo, domestic helpers from the Philippines line up at a temporary COVID-19 testing centre in Hong Kong. (File photo: AP/Kin Cheung)
11 May 2021 04:27PM (Updated:
11 May 2021 04:30PM) Share this content
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HONG KONG: Hong Kong on Tuesday (May 11) scrapped a plan to make COVID-19 vaccines mandatory for foreign domestic workers after the proposal sparked an outcry and a diplomatic tussle.
But authorities ordered all foreign helpers to undergo another round of mandatory testing, triggering renewed criticism from the Philippines.
Hong Kong has scrapped a plan to make coronavirus vaccines mandatory for foreign domestic workers after the Philippines and labour groups criticised the proposal as discriminatory.
Still, Carrie Lam, Hong Kong’s chief executive, on Tuesday ordered another round of mandatory testing for all foreign domestic helpers as a “precaution” against more infectious variants of the coronavirus.
Hong Kong health officials announced the mandatory vaccination plan and testing of all domestic workers last month after two workers tested positive for a more virulent strain of the coronavirus.
Authorities said domestic workers were “high risk” because they often work with the elderly and meet in parks on Sundays, usually their one day off a week, and said that those wanting to apply for work visas – or renew their current ones – would need to show they had received two doses of the COVID-19 jab.