Alex Lam Chi-yau, chairman of Hong Kong Patients' Voices, also said the huge number of jab-waiver certificates issued by the accused practitioners reflected there is a market for such documents.
"Some patients with long-term illnesses or problems with their immune systems have said they could not find any doctor willing to issue the certificates," Lam said, and the trend was more obvious in public hospitals.
"[The arrests] will create a chilling effect as it will be even more difficult to secure an exemption," he said.
The group also backs the argument that everyone should receive the jab if their health allows it, and members doubt if there is a need to tighten
vaccine pass requirements.
A doctor's union meanwhile estimated only 10 percent of waivers issued by private practitioners are legitimate after authorities announced that the 20,000 certificates issued by the seven doctors - six arrested and one facing an arrest warrant - would be invalid after two weeks.
And Henry Leung Hon-fai, president of the Hong Kong Doctors Union, said on radio the arrested doctors are the "black sheep" of the profession.
"We will inevitably be stricter when dealing with borderline cases, but it is up to doctors' judgment," he said.
Leung also said doctors need at least 15 minutes to check a person's medical records and history to decide whether to issue a waiver certificate. They would also ask for a person to undergo a body checkup.
On the same radio program, assistant government chief information officer Daniel Cheung Yee-wai said the QR code scanners in premises would need to be updated to identify the 20,000 certificates deemed invalid from October 12.
But speaking on another radio program yesterday, the vice-president of the Hong Kong Medical Association, Victor Yeung Hip-wo, suggested that government officials extend the two-week buffer time to enable patients who need an updating of a waiver certificate to have sufficient time to consult another practitioner.
