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The uneasy journey in fighting the pandemic

In less than three weeks, we are going to farewell year 2020. We all have been experiencing differently over the past eleven months or so. While violent acts subsided, the outbreak of COVID-19 has disrupted our daily lives in many aspects and brought us stress and anxiety. This pandemic of the century not only dealt a severe blow to the global economy, but also triggered tremendous changes to our daily routines, working practices, business models and even the operation of the society.

Hong Kong has been hit by the fourth wave of outbreak since end November. The situation has since been challenging. Daily recorded cases have risen to consistently high level with patients of different groups, background and districts. Many cases are asymptomatic or with untraceable sources, while some hospitalised patients are in more serious condition. We therefore have to remain highly vigilant against the epidemic and continue to fight in the prolonged anti-virus battle.

Vaccination is known as the most effective method in curbing the epidemic. The HKSAR Government has been pursuing with the procurement of vaccines proactively. Among the four major vaccine technology platforms available around the world, we have already secured two candidate vaccines from two different technology platforms, and will soon enter into an agreement with the third candidate vaccine of another technology platform. What we aim is to procure sufficient doses (initial plan is to serve at least two times the Hong Kong population) within the shortest time frame.

However, as global demand for vaccine is huge and some are still undergoing registration procedures, it is inevitably that the supply of vaccine would be in batches and we need to derive an appropriate staged vaccination plan based on risk and need. Moreover, the effectiveness of the vaccine in controlling the epidemic will be affected by people’s receptiveness to the vaccine and how fast they are going to receive the vaccination.

It takes time for us to procure vaccines, derive vaccination programme, and start vaccinating high-risk groups. Moreover, while vaccination can avoid serious symptoms, it cannot completely eliminate the risk of infection. Therefore, even if we are equipped with vaccines as an important new tool in fighting the virus, we still cannot be complacent in the coming year. We need to remain vigilant and continue to do our best to control the epidemic, so as to prevent any resurgence that will add further pressure to our ailing economy and livelihood.

Looking ahead, 2021 will be another year full of uncertainty. Apart from the local and global epidemic situation, we also have to pay attention to China-US relationship and other geopolitical development. To prepare for possible changes in the future, we have to set priority and reserve flexibility in the use of public resources when planning the Budget of next year. Yet we will definitely allocate sufficient resources for any anti-epidemic works so as to ensure their maximum effect. Controlling the epidemic has all along been the most crucial factor in stabilising the economy and livelihood, and also the prerequisite for the resumption of travel with the Mainland and other places around the world.

As for the premises that have their operations suspended or restricted by the Government’s anti-epidemic measures, it is reasonable to provide them with support by using public resources. However, Government’s support would only be a drop in the bucket and could not last long. After all, the most important task is still to curb the epidemic, so that businesses could resume normal operation and people could get back to their daily lives. The Government’s resources are finite. Since the beginning of the outbreak early this year, we have rolled out series of supporting measures for enterprises and citizens with the largest total amount ever, including those initiated in the Budget and under the three rounds of Anti-epidemic Fund. In the light of the fluctuating epidemic situation, while the Government will allocate adequate resources for anti-epidemic works, we have to reserve our fiscal strength at the same time to tackle both known and unknown needs, as well as to maintain Hong Kong’s financial stability, which is particularly important amid the changing external environment and our weak local economy.

Accumulating fiscal reserve is not our objective. We have to make use of public resources to bring benefits to the society by addressing people’s needs and facilitating long-term development. Our public finance principles have always been allocating resources appropriately and addressing both short- and long-term needs of the society, with a view to promoting the stable development of the society and the economy by leveraging our finite resources. All in all, to maintain the confidence of our people, businesses and the society in the future, what we need to do is to control the epidemic effectively, as well as to ensure the prudence of public finance.

December 13, 2020