Vaccination among elderly residents rising, interest among children also growing

The vaccination rate among the senior population in Macau has recently been growing, health authorities stated yesterday during the regular press briefing from the Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Center.

According to the figures released by Dr. Leong Iek Hou, coordinator at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, vaccination rates among the older age groups have been growing, with a higher significance in the last two groups, which include citizens aged 70 and above.

The figures released show that the group of those aged between 60 and 69 years old has now reached a vaccination rate of 67.9%, while the group of those aged 70 to 79 years old has hiked to 51.1%, and those aged 80 or more now have a vaccination rate of 22.3%.

Lower vaccination rates continue to be observed in younger children (3 to 11 years old) for whom the vaccination rate only stands at 15.9%.

The changes observed in the past week, with more people getting vaccinated, also prompted the general vaccination rate of Macau to rise to 78%, Leong remarked.

A similar change might also soon occur in regards to the vaccination rate of children as, according to Luís Gomes, a representative from the Education and Youth Development Bureau (DSEDJ), the recent outbreak in the town of Tanzhou, Zhongshan has contributed to a rise in the interest of children and parents in vaccination.

“Due to the recent outbreak, we have received information that around 20,000 students (mostly from primary education) wish to get vaccinated and, from these, 12,000 have already scheduled the inoculation,” Gomes said. Further to this, Gomes added that, due to this rapid growth in interest, the DSEDJ has established a special vaccination post solely dedicated to students.

This special post will be in operation this Saturday and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Forum Macau vaccination post.

Also on this topic, Choi Sio Un, a representative from the Social Welfare Bureau (IAS), noted the significant contribution of the 24 local elderly homes to the vaccination rates of senior citizens.

According to Choi, the vaccination rate in homes for the elderly has risen by 6% in just one week to the current rate of 41%.

“A total of 41% of all senior citizens in homes are now vaccinated. This is a good increase if we compare with last week when the figure was just 35%. This means we registered a growth of 6% in just one week which is for us a very good result and a source of satisfaction,” Choi said, while revealing that the final goal of IAS is to reach a 90% vaccination rate among all the staff and residents of the homes.

“There are still more than 1,000 unvaccinated residents in homes, and from these, only eight of them have been considered unfit for vaccination by the medical teams. In general, we can say that all seniors are fit for vaccination, especially those with chronic diseases. These are, in fact, a priority,” Choi clarified, as he stated that a misconception among the population was that people with chronic diseases were unsuitable for vaccination, and that this misconception has contributed to the reluctance of many people.

Adding to this discussion, Leong explained, “All people can be vaccinated, except those allergic to vaccine components. All others are eligible. What we said before was that some people should not rush in to vaccinate if they were [at the peak of] a disease or if they were [experiencing] fever, etc. But once these conditions recede, they become fit for vaccination.”

NAT required for visitors  of unvaccinated elderly 

To both further promote the vaccination rate among senior citizens and to protect them from a potential infection, the IAS, as of yesterday, is restricting visits to unvaccinated elderly residents who have been institutionalized only to relatives or friends that present a negative nucleic acid test (NAT) performed in the 48 hours prior the visit.

Choi explained this new measure is introduced in view of the vulnerability of this population and the severe consequences they may experience in case they get infected.

“If they get infected, they have a high mortality rate. IAS appeals to them and to their families to take the vaccine as soon as possible,” he said.

For those vaccinated residents, visitors continue to need to present a valid NAT with a negative result valid for seven days.