August 22, 2022
HONG KONG – The government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region on Friday announced that its employees will be granted childcare vaccination leave to accompany young children to receive COVID-19 vaccination on working days.
In a statement, a spokesman for the government said that in order to encourage parents to arrange COVID vaccination for their children aged six months to less than three years as early as possible, government employees will be granted childcare vaccination leave of not more than half a day to accompany their children to receive such jab starting from next Monday.
All government employees including civil servants, non-civil service contract staff and post-retirement service contract staff will benefit
The spokesman stressed that in view of the rapid spread of the mutant strains, parents should arrange for their young children to get vaccinated as early as possible.
It pointed out that as the largest employer in Hong Kong, the government has a duty to “take the lead and introduce such a family-friendly measure to encourage and facilitate government employees who are parents or guardians of young children to act fast and arrange for their children to get vaccinated for early protection.”
All government employees including civil servants, non-civil service contract staff and post-retirement service contract staff will benefit.
For those who have taken their own vacation leave to bring children aged below three to get vaccinated before Aug 22, they may also be retrospectively granted a half-day leave by application, the spokesman added.
The government also called on employers of other enterprises to provide convenience for their employees as far as possible and encourage parents to arrange for their young children to get COVID-19 vaccination as a concerted effort to boost the vaccination rate of young children.
Hong Kong reported 6,445 new COVID infections on Friday, highest since early April, with eight more patients having passed away.