Hong Kong to allow entry of domestic helpers with vaccination certificates this month

The Hong Kong government said it could start recognizing COVID-19 vaccination certificates issued by the Philippines and Indonesia this month.

In a South China Morning Post report on Wednesday, domestic helpers will now be allowed to get vaccinated in their respective home countries due to the severe local shortages of workers in the region.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. on Wednesday said he would formally ask Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor why the government of Hong Kong won't honor the vaccination records for entry.

“Our vaccination cards are not accepted in Hong Kong because they are not connected to a single source,” he said in a previous tweet.

A Hong Kong government source told the Post that language obstacles on certificates and authorization processes were among the two remaining issues.

The key issue was about the reliability of the mechanisms in both countries for validating vaccination certificates and which authorities are verifying them, the source added.

“It’s about who is giving the chop," he said.

The Hong Kong government is already discussing with other countries, including the Philippines and Indonesia, how to verify the authenticity of their vaccination records as well as the language barriers.

The Philippines had earlier proposed to use a COVID-19 vaccination certificate recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO).

However, the Hong Kong government said it will still need to know which local or national authorities in other countries will be responsible for the vaccination records.

It added the some certificates were not issued in English, adding to the difficulties in verifying the records especially during check-in for flights.

The source also raised concerns that there have been reports on the sale of fake vaccination records after local travel restrictions were eased for fully vaccinated individuals in the Philippines.

The Hong Kong government plans to set up a central database of vaccination records for verification, said Thomas Chan Tung-fung, chairman of the Hong Kong Union of Employment Agencies.

“If people are only required to present a certificate, there is of course a chance of fabrication,” Chan Tung-fung told the Post.

He added it is important that the certificate could be verified in another way.

There are around 370,000 domestic helpers in Hong Kong but most of them are stranded overseas and unable to return to the city.

The Philippines was earlier classified by the Hong Kong government as "high risk" for COVID-19.