Citing the “severe situation in Hong Kong” as justification, the local government is urging schools to “actively promote” Covid-19 vaccination to students.
The Education and Youth Development Bureau (DSEDJ) has cited the law to support its “request.” Mentioning the Law on Prevention, Control and Treatment of Infectious Diseases and the Statute for Private Schools of Non-tertiary Education, the bureau stressed that “schools of non-tertiary education in Macau are required to tie in with the government to promote student vaccination actively.”
Students who are not vaccinated will be “registered,” the government entity said, adding that “schools will be required to learn about parents’ intentions to get their children vaccinated in a short period of time, […] notify parents every week to update students’ vaccination status, collect data on vaccination intentions with ongoing efforts as well as devise ways and means to encourage parents to fully cooperate in student vaccination.”
It is unclear if the government entity is attempting to influence parents or students by means of peer pressure.
To facilitate the new practice, the DSEDJ and the Health Bureau held a meeting with schools yesterday to assist in arranging students to attend community vaccination stations for vaccination or arranging outreach services to schools for mass student vaccination.
