Hong Kong starts vaccine requirement for restaurants, stores

Hong Kong launched a vaccination requirement to enter shopping malls, restaurants and a host of other places on Thursday as it battles an expanding omicron outbreak and tries to overcome vaccine hesitancy in parts of its population

HONG KONG -- Hong Kong launched a vaccination requirement to enter shopping malls, restaurants and a host of other places on Thursday as it battles an expanding omicron outbreak and tries to overcome vaccine hesitancy in parts of its population.

Businesses posted a QR code at their entrances for people to scan with a smartphone app to check their vaccine status before entering.

Everyone aged 12 and over must have at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine to enter these places. Beginning April 30, those aged 18 and above will be required to have two doses. Booster shots will be required for some starting June 30.

Hong Kong, a semi-autonomous Chinese city, is struggling to impose a zero-COVID strategy patterned on the tough measures mainland China has implemented to keep the virus at bay. A sharp rise in cases driven by the omicron variant has left the city short of the hospital beds and isolation rooms needed for a zero-COVID approach.