Addressing yesterday’s weekly press conference about Macau’s novel coronavirus situation, the Health Bureau’s (SSM) Control of Communicable Diseases and Surveillance of Diseases Department Coordinator Leong Iek Hou said that Macau’s first COVID-19 vaccines will be available in the current quarter and that the BioNTech vaccines purchased by the Macau government are only for those aged at least 16.

Leong also noted that the Sinopharm vaccines purchased by the local government are also only for certain age ranges.

The Macau government announced last month that it has purchased 1.2 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines developed by three vaccine developers, comprising 400,000 doses of inactivated vaccines developed by Beijing-based China National Pharmaceutical Group (also known as Sinopharm), 400,000 doses of mRNA vaccines developed by Germany’s BioNTech, and 400,000 doses of adenovirus vector vaccines jointly developed by the Anglo-Swedish joint venture of AstraZeneca and Oxford University.

The Macau government said last month that it expected the first batches of the Sinopharm and BioNTech vaccines to be delivered to Macau in the first quarter of this year, while the first batch of the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccines was expected to arrive in Macau in the second quarter of this year. The government said at that time that the first batches of the Sinopharm, BioNTech and AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccines to be delivered to Macau would each consist of at least 100,000 doses.

Leong reaffirmed yesterday that the first batches of the COVID-19 vaccines purchased by the government will be delivered to Macau in the current quarter. Leong said that the government was now formulating its COVID-19 vaccination programme, such as appointment arrangements for vaccinations, and the groups of residents who will be the first to get vaccinated, adding that it was also following up on how the vaccines will be delivered to Macau.

Leong noted that each kind of COVID-19 vaccine is only for certain age ranges. Leong said that for instance, the BioNTech vaccine is only for those aged at least 16, while the Sinopharm vaccine is also only for certain age ranges.

In the mainland, the National Health Commission (NHC) has said that all domestically developed COVID-19 vaccines are only for people aged between 18 and 59.

Leong said that the Health Bureau will assess the COVID-19 vaccine age matter based on the information provided by the respective vaccine producers, adding that when the bureau starts to roll out its COVID-19 vaccination drive, it will inform residents about the suitable age groups of the respective COVID-19 vaccines.

Leong also noted that according to the Macau government’s administrative regulation on its vaccination programme, local residents’ COVID-19 jabs provided by the government will be free of charge, while non-locals will have to pay. Leong said that the Macau government was currently studying whether non-resident workers will be charged for the COVID-19 shots.

“We will consider the matter based on the [respective] regulation and the latest development of the COVID-19 pandemic situation,” Leong said, adding that the government hasn’t decided yet whether non-resident workers will be charged for the COVID-19 shots.

Health Code address function relaunched today

Meanwhile, Alvis Lo Iek Long, a clinical director of the public Conde de São Januário Hospital Centre, announced during the press conference that the Macau government will relaunch the new function of adding one’s home address to the Macau Health Code at 11 a.m. today, as the Health Bureau’s technical team had meanwhile “rectified the issue” which previously affected the code system’s server – which resulted in a technical glitch on Christmas Eve when the new function was initially slated to start.

The government suspended the new function of adding one’s address to the Macau Health Code following the 40-minute malfunction on Christmas Eve – when residents were not able to have the health code generated on their smartphones – as the bureau’s technicians could not confirm whether the glitch was due to the new function. Under the initial schedule, residents would have had to add their home address to their Macau Health Code from January 7 – after a 14-day transition period.

The Health Bureau said last week that its technical team had concluded that the malfunction which occurred on Christmas Eve was not due to the new address function, and instead it was merely due to the “abnormal” operation of the Macau Health Code system’s server.

Data flow pressure tests

Lo underlined yesterday that the bureau’s technical team has “repeatedly” carried out data flow pressure tests on the Macau Health Code system so as to ensure that the system can continue operating in case a large number of people use the new address function simultaneously.

“After repeated testing, the issue [which previously occurred] in the system has been rectified,” Lo said, adding that the bureau’s technical team has also prepared a number of contingency plans in response to the possibility of the abnormal operation of the Macau Health Code system’s server again.

Lo noted that the bureau has carried out data flow pressure tests on the Macau Health Code system to ensure that the server can process up to 800,000 people using the new address function in one hour. Lo also said that if too many people use the new address function simultaneously, the Macau Health Code system will temporarily suspend the new function so as to prevent a malfunction of the system so that residents can continue getting the code generated on their smartphones, adding that the new function will be resumed once the data flow has reduced to a particular volume.

Lo said that the Health Bureau has decided to relaunch the new address function at 11 a.m. today so as to avoid the peak hours in the morning when residents cross the Macau-Zhuhai borders or enter their workplaces – the time when they are required to show their Macau Health Code.

Lo also said that those who had successfully added their address to their Macau Health Code on Christmas Eve before the suspension of the new function will not have to fill in their address again.

Lo urged residents not to rush to add their address to the Macau Health Code after today’s relaunch of the new function as they will have a 14-day transition period for them to fill in the address – before the new deadline when residents must start to fill in the address.

In addition to local residents, the new address requirement will also apply to non-locals living or staying in Macau, who will need to indicate the address of the place where they usually stay, such as workplaces, casinos or hotels.

Macau has not recorded a new COVID-19 case for 192 days, while no local case has been confirmed in 281 days.

Meanwhile, Macau Government Tourism Office (MGTO) official Lau Fong Chi told the press conference that for the time being the Macau government will not launch a special programme to help locals stranded overseas return to Macau. She noted that locals could choose to return to Macau via Tokyo or the Chinese mainland.

Taiwan last week banned all transit flights from the island. Until then, Taipei was a major transit hub for Macau residents travelling during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Alvis Lo Iek Long (right), one of the three clinical directors of the public Conde de São Januário Hospital Centre, speaks during yesterday’s press conference about the city’s novel coronavirus (COVID-19) situation, as Health Bureau (SSM) Control of Communicable Diseases and Surveillance of Diseases Department Coordinator Leong Iek Hou looks on. 

Photo: Tony Wong