Vaccination figures soar after border reopening
There were 10 times more Covid-19 vaccine doses administered on a single day in December last year than the daily average in November, according to pulmonologist Alvis Lo, director of the Health Bureau (SSM).
This disclosure, with Lo not mentioning the specific date in December, was made in response to separate written inquiries from lawmakers Ron Lam and Leong Hong Sai.
In his replies, Lo revealed that, from December 8, the daily high of vaccination doses was 7,000. On December 8, the city ended the transitional period for co-existing with Covid-19.
Compared to the average daily dose figures in November last year, it was a 10-fold increase, the health official said.
When discussing boosting the vaccination rate among children and the elderly, the SSM director emphasized that the bureau has long collaborated with the Social Welfare Bureau (IAS) to arrange outreach vaccination services for elders receiving day care or living in aged care facilities. Phone calls have also been made to 4,900 elderly people aged 80 years or above to persuade them to get vaccinated.
Concerning the vaccination of children, Lo said the third dose has been made available to children between five and 11 years of age since December 19.
In the same inquiry, Lam also asked about the updating of the contingency plans against Covid-19 and the dissemination of information to the public regarding infections and recovery.
Lo said in reply that the government had reacted to the city’s reopening in compliance with the contingencies the SSM had earlier set out. For example, he pointed out, the distribution of about 700,000 Covid-19 response packs was part of the contingency plans.
Furthermore, with more people contracting the virus, a tiered patient management system was later introduced to triage patients and direct them to take various measures, such as staying at home or visiting community outpatient clinics.
Lo boasted that the bureau has expanded the capacity of the accident and emergency (A&E) department of the public hospital. However, this was only undertaken after widespread complaints from patients and their families being reported by local media outlets.
The health official added that various means were used inform people about the disease.
During the past citywide outbreak of Covid-19, people in Macau complained of the difficulties in getting cough syrup, which was not included in the Covid-19 response packs. Some were therefore forced to visit the public hospital’s A&E department because they experienced severe coughing.
