Two more vaccination points to come into service

It is expected that the city will soon have two more Covid-19 vaccination points; one at the University Hospital and another at the Macau Forum, Dr Tai Wah Hou, Coordinator of the Health Bureau’s (SSM) Vaccination Operation, announced at yesterday’s weekly press conference.
The first vaccination point is at the University Hospital, located at the Macau University of Science and Technology, which will come into operation on May 17. It will accommodate local residents, non-resident workers and students, with a daily quota of 150 jabs of the Sinopharm inactivated vaccine. Bookings will be taken from 10 a.m. on May 14.
Tai also announced that the SSM is considering to establish a major community vaccination point to cater to more people in a more convenient manner.
This point, which will be located at the Macau Forum, will provide a daily quota of 2,000 injections.
Although an exact date for the commencement was not announced, Tai stressed that the preparation of the station is now “in swift progress.” The authority will strive for it to open as early as possible. The service schedule of the future vaccination point will depend on public demand.
Not entirely happy with the local vaccination rate, the SSM has been trying to push inoculation. It has mentioned several times that the government is in search of ways to encourage more people to take the jab.
Yesterday, the SSM announced one of its first steps to do so. Following an outreach vaccination operation at local higher education institutions, the SSM is now looking to offer waivers on nucleic acid test for certain groups who have received both doses.
The first group who would be exempted from having to obtain a test are participants in festive, leisure and cultural and entertainment events. The second group would be participants at group dining events with more than 400 attendees.
An extra condition to the waiver is that the jabs must be taken two weeks prior to the events.
However, the authority did not address safety concerns that may possibly come with the waiver as reports of infection after complete inoculation have been published in various places, with the nearest one being in neighboring Hong Kong.

Latest case of AEFI
still hospitalized
The SSM also announced at the press conference that the patient in the latest case of Adverse Event Following Immunization (AEFI) is still at the government hospital for treatment.
He was in stable condition without symptoms of blood clots.
The 62-year-old local man was diagnosed with idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura on April 30 at the government hospital. The illness is a hematological condition distinguished by the drop of platelet in the body.
The SSM pointed out that the cause of the condition is most of the time, unclear.
Similar to previous AEFIs, the SSM stressed that there is no evidence connecting the illness to the Covid-19 vaccine or vaccination.
On February 23 and March 25, the patient received two separate doses of the Sinopharm inactivated vaccine. On April 21, he developed oral mucosal bleeding and red dots all over his body.
He sought medical assistance on the mainland before being taken by the government hospital in Macau.
The case in now being analyzed by the cross-disciplinary task force for Covid-19 vaccination.
With all previous events categorized by the SSM as AEFIs, Tai admitted that no individual has fallen within the coverage of the insurance purchased for the sake of the vaccination campaign.
Some previous AEFIs’ connection with the vaccine was identified as “uncertain” by the authority. When asked if the task force was working effectively, Tai explained that “uncertain” is a type of conclusion, meaning that the more scientific evidence is required to determine any causality.