Locals called on to take jabs to pave the way for expedited travel

Considering the willingness has remained low among Macau’s residents to receive a coronavirus inoculation, locals should take the jabs as early as possible to help the city achieve herd community, which may lay the foundation for hassle-free travel in the future, Dr. Tai Wa Hou, coordinator of the Health Bureau’s Covid-19 Vaccination Operation, said yesterday at the regular Covid-19 media briefing.
“Considering the pandemic situation in Macau has remained relatively stable, the locals have not had the urge or a high inclination to take the jabs at the moment,” he explained.
As of yesterday, Macau saw a total of 77,587 people who registered for the vaccination program. Among this figure, 37,707 already received their doses.
On the positive side, the absence rate of the inoculation scheme over the past two weeks hovered between 7% to 9%, and has not shown any signs of spike after cases of adverse reactions following the vaccination were reported, Tai said.
The steady absence rate, he pointed out, is a testament to residents’ confidence in the two currently available types of vaccine — the inactivated vaccine developed by China’s state-owned pharmaceutical company Sinopharm Group and the mRNA-based vaccine developed by German drug manufacturer BioNTech and proxied by Fosun Pharma.
In the briefing, Tai also stacked up Macau’s absence rate against Hong Kong’s, which had surged due to public concern following the emergence of some cases requiring hospital treatment after their jabs.
Since the kickoff of the vaccination scheme in Macau, a total of 110 adverse events have been reported, including one serious adverse event, although the 67-year-old male has been discharged after treatment without any signs of long-term effects or complications.
When asked by the media whether the current insurance package offered by the government would cover the aforementioned serious adverse event, Tai said the particular case will not be regarded as an eligible insurer as the reason for hospitalization was confirmed to be unrelated to the vaccination.
“Only those incidents directly related to the vaccine can be covered in the insurance,” he stressed.
The authorities will capitalize on group vaccination to stimulate the city’s overall vaccination rate, he pointed out
“We will allocate locations and time slots for herds of people who hail from the same alliances, organizations, departments and so on, to receive their jabs together at the time,” he said.
The authorities are now considering rolling out vaccination outreach activities to extend the inoculation service beyond the government’s health facilities to other venues like schools in due course.
The government is also studying the feasibility to exempt Covid-19 testing for travel after the vaccination rate reaches a certain level, Tai said, adding that the authorities have been proactively in discussion with other governments regarding expedited travel for vaccinated people.
However, he stressed the implementation of vaccine passports is still in its infancy. Hence, the government has not yet set a timeframe for that, despite hopes that it will be achieved.
The Covid-19 briefing was held yesterday, which also marked the first day for the first batch of locals to receive their second dose of inactivated vaccine.