Hong Kong schools can resume full-day classes on campuses if 90 percent of their students have received two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine.
Authorities made the announcement during the government’s daily press briefing on coronavirus measures on Wednesday.
“We respect students’ right to education, which is why we have not made it compulsory for students to get vaccinated before going back to school for classes,” said Secretary for Education Kevin Yeung.
But he said that a higher vaccination rate means students will have a better protective barrier to take part in more activities, including those that require taking off the mask — such as eating.
As such, Yeung said individual schools that meet the 90 percent student vaccination rate can resume whole-day classes.
If schools cannot meet the target, they are also allowed to have full-day classes for grades that reach that vaccination rate.
The government earlier announced that all schools can resume in-person classes in phases on April 19 at the earliest, after students were asked to take their holidays earlier in view of the pandemic situation and to free campuses for the now-shelved universal testing scheme.
Schools not meeting the student vaccination target are only allowed to have lessons on campuses for half the day, a move authorities say reduces the risk of infection as children will not be having lunch in school.
All teaching and non-teaching staff have to get two doses of a coronavirus vaccine in order for a school to resume in-person classes.
Around 95 percent of secondary school students — aged 12 to 19 — have received the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, while 66 percent have gotten two jabs.
For younger children aged 3 to 11, 58 percent have gotten one shot, while 11 percent are jabbed twice.
