Authorities hint at fully vaccinated new school year

Health authorities have said that they are still considering whether to require that only fully vaccinated students and teachers may start the 2022-2023 school year beginning in September.

When questioned on the matter at the latest Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Center press briefing, the coordinator of the local Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Leong Iek Hou, admitted that the option is being evaluated. “Regarding the next school year, we do not have yet a clear plan. We are still evaluating the possibilities,” she said, responding to the question of whether vaccination would be mandatory to start the new school year.

“As for the summer activities to be hosted during the school summer break: yes, to join in these activities they [the students] should be vaccinated. This has been already announced and we will move ahead accordingly,” Leong added.

Although the vaccination rate in Macau currently stands at almost 90% of the population, authorities persist in calling for more vaccination of two main groups, namely, the elderly and young children (3 to 11 years old).

One factor which may be slowing the vaccination rate for younger children is the delayed arrival of a specifically adapted mRNA vaccine from BioNTech.

The acquisition of this vaccine was announced several months ago. However, citing several delays in supply, health authorities say that they have not been able to confirm when these vaccines will arrive in Macau.

“We continue to communicate with the suppliers, asking for a delivery of the vaccines as early as possible, but so far that has not been possible. We want an additional 10,000 doses of this vaccine,” Leong added.

Although this specifically formulated vaccine dosage has not yet arrived, authorities are proceeding with the vaccination of children of this age group by using common (adult dosage) vaccines with the dosage manually adjusted by Health Bureau professionals at the time of the inoculation.