A new pop-up Community Vaccination Centre (CVC) commenced operations in the heart of Causeway Bay today (29 March), potentially allowing several hundred thousand more citizens to get fully vaccinated and help Hong Kong return to normal life as soon as possible. The CVC at the junction of Leighton Road and Caroline Hill Road is the largest yet set up within a private property portfolio, having been jointly offered to the Government for three months by Chinachem Group (the Group) and Hysan Development, who will later be developing a retail, commercial and community complex on the 160,000 sq ft site.

Constructed in an exceptionally short period of just 18 days, the CVC offers 18 vaccination booths, providing a smooth and comfortable experience for the public. Gammon Construction, which has also sponsored the initiative, took the lead in creating the temporary facilities using pre-fabricated containers, working alongside other partners including Arup, Ronald Lu and Partners and WSP. The site was handed over to the Hong Kong Government on 23 March 2022 and will be operational for three months until the end of June. The School of Nursing at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University will operate the vaccination centre in a non-profit-making mode.

Since the start of the pandemic, the Group has assiduously explored how we can use our property spaces and other resources to help the Government and the community combat the pandemic. As in this case, it has also joined hands with like-minded partners where possible to maximise the support we can offer, and help speed Hong Kong’s recovery through a team effort.

Chinachem Group has also made a number of its hotels available for quarantine or isolation purposes, while Nina Hotel Tsuen Wan West recently hosted a community vaccination day co-organised with Tsuen Wan District Office. In late January, the Group organised pop-up mini-flower markets at selected properties to support local farmers affected by the last-minute cancellation of the traditional Chinese New Year markets.

Besides putting its properties to good use amid the pandemic, the Group has helped make 100,000 Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) kits available to people in need, donating 50,000 kits directly and a further 50,000 through matching donations by C-MER Eye Care Holdings and Shenzhen YHLO Biotech. The first batch of 20,000 RAT kits were delivered to the Fu Hong Society to help its residential care homes and daycare centres combat the pandemic. The remaining 80,000 were packed into 8,000 goodie bags – together with other anti-epidemic supplies and daily necessities such as masks, hand sanitiser, canned food and more – then distributed to subdivided flat households in Tsuen Wan, Sham Shui Po and Yau Tsim Mong districts, benefiting around 4,000 low-income families. To ensure the timely and safe delivery of these supplies and ease the current pressure on NGOs, the Group arranged distribution through smart logistics start-up Zeek, in which it is an investor.

The Group has also donated HK$500,000 to Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui Welfare Council to alleviate their substantial expenses of employing temporary care workers, paying special allowances, and purchasing anti-epidemic supplies and disinfection.

In the earlier stages of the Government’s vaccination drive, the Group organised a HK$20 million Vaccination Lucky Draw to encourage more people to get vaccinated. By playing its part to boost the city’s vaccination rate, the Group hopes that Hong Kong can build a sufficient immunity barrier to speed up its relaxation of anti-epidemic measures and return to a healthy economy.

The Group will continue to provide support and care to citizens in need while paying close attention to their well-being. The Group will join hands with others in the city to fight against the epidemic and build a beautiful home together.