2 days ago
Hong Kong doctor to be sentenced in July for issuing over 6,600 false Covid-19 vaccine exemptions
A Hong Kong physician may face jail time after pleading guilty last month to issuing more than 6,600 fake Covid-19 vaccine exemption certificates in 2022.
District Judge Kwok Wai-kin on Wednesday set July 11 as the sentencing date for 62-year-old Wong Ping-leung, who pleaded guilty in May to four counts of 'access to a computer with criminal or dishonest intent' after issuing a total of 6,635 false vaccine exemption certificates between February and June 2022.
The offence under the Crimes Ordinance is punishable by up to five years in prison.
According to local media reports, Wong's lawyer said during mitigation on Wednesday that the doctor was 'easily influenced' and lacked the ability to exercise discretion.
Wong has been detained since he entered his guilty plea in May. The court delayed his sentencing after the defence argued that the doctor misunderstood his discretion on issuing vaccination exemption certificates.
Wednesday's hearing was supposed to be a Newton hearing, a court proceeding to resolve disputes after a defendant pleaded guilty.
Local media reported that Judge Kwok wanted to hear testimony from Wong, but the defence said the doctor was 'under pressure' during detention and not in a condition to take the witness stand.
In February 2022, the Hong Kong government introduced the Covid-19 Vaccine Pass Scheme, requiring residents to show proof of vaccination when entering restaurants or other businesses. Individuals with allergic reactions or other medical reasons could be exempted upon presenting a doctor's certificate.
The authorities cracked down on fraudulent medical exemptions in September 2022 and arrested seven doctors. The seven were believed to have issued more than 20,000 medical exemption certificates, accounting for over half of such documents that were valid in Hong Kong at the time.
