The government will acquire antiviral oral medicines to treat Covid-19 as soon as are approved by national and international health authorities, the coordinator of the Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Center, Dr. Leong Iek Hou said yesterday.
Questioned by the media, the Leong said, “the government is closely following the development of these medicines. If these medicines prove to be effective and pass the national and international [agencies’] approval tests, the government will immediately reserve and acquire them too,” Leong affirmed. “We procure and acquire medicines worldwide so this would not be a problem,” she added when questioned on the need to wait for the medicines to be available in the region.
On another matter, Leong said that people in Macau aged between 18 and 60 years who have been vaccinated with two doses of the BioNTech mRNA vaccine, do not need to seek a booster shot urgently.
“Only those who are part of the at-risk groups can and should take the third dose of the BioNTech vaccine. For the time being, the others will be able to do it at a later stage. Those who do not belong to at-risk groups and are aged between 18- and 60-year-old and [are in good] health should feel no urgency [to take a third dose]. We might consider allowing them to get the booster shot in special cases, such as if they need urgently to travel to an at-risk area,” Leong explained. RM
