Global Financial Market Review

Police on Thursday arrested three private doctors on suspicion of issuing exemption certificates for Covid vaccine passes without giving the recipients medical consultations.

Officers said the woman and two men have clinics in Yuen Long, Tin Shui Wai and Chai Wan.

At a press briefing, acting senior superintendent Cheung Man-chuen said the two doctors who work in the New Territories were each suspected of issuing more than 1,300 such certificates since February, charging people between HK$350 and HK$700.

The third doctor may have issued more than 6,600 certificates between February and June at HK$3,000 apiece, police said.

Officers said they found the large number of certificates allegedly issued to be suspicious, and this led them to question whether the relevant official guidelines were being followed.

Earlier this month, police arrested two other doctors suspected of the same offence along with more than 20 people who allegedly received certificates without a medical consultation.

The exemption certificates enable people to enter various places covered by the government's vaccine pass even if they have not been fully inoculated against Covid-19.