All school staff are required to be double jabbed starting next month to resume full-day, in-person classes, Yeung noted, adding that he believes a third-jab requirement is in the pipeline.

The necessity for vaccinations, Yeung said, also extends to students.

Meanwhile, authorities are studying the feasibility of special exam venues for DSE students who need to undergo quarantine, Yeung said, noting that it would be difficult to station special venues within schools as many schools are worried about the impact close contacts would have on other candidates and exam invigilators.

The necessity of transporting students to the special venues under a closed-loop system poses another issue, he added.

The chairwoman of the Subsidized Primary School Council, Vu Im-fan, said the resumption of full-day, in-person classes should not hinge on vaccination rates as many other factors are at play, such as the coordination of anti-epidemic mealtime measures for students.

Separately, pediatrician Alvin Chan Yee-shing of the Hong Kong Medical Association said that the 90-percent vaccination rate requirement for resuming full-day, in-person classes would be challenging.

He called on parents to arrange for their children to get vaccinated, warning that there may be another outbreak when in-person classes resume in April.