Addressing yesterday’s weekly press conference about Macau’s novel coronavirus situation, Tai Wa Hou, the coordinator of the Health Bureau’s (SSM) COVID-19 vaccination programme, announced that the government’s COVID-19 inoculations for non-local students enrolled in Macau and all other non-locals who hold a permit to stay in Macau will start on Saturday with China’s Sinopharm inactivated jabs, while those preferring Germany’s BioNTech mRNA shots can get them from Monday.

The government’s free COVID-19 inoculations for non-resident workers started early last month.

While non-local students enrolled in Macau will not have to pay to be inoculated against COVID-19, all other non-locals who hold a permit to stay in Macau, such as the family members of non-resident workers employed in Macau, will have to pay 250 patacas per jab – which means that they will have to pay 500 patacas to be vaccinated against COVID-19 considering that each person requires two jabs.

Other non-locals holding a permit to stay in Macau whose COVID-19 inoculations will start on Saturday also include laid-off non-resident workers who are stranded in Macau – i.e. those no longer holding a valid blue card.

According to Tai, the non-locals to be newly covered by the government’s COVID-19 vaccination programme can start to make an online appointment at 10 a.m. tomorrow to get their COVID-19 jabs.

According to Tai, all other non-locals holding a permit to stay in Macau (i.e. those who are not non-resident workers or non-local students) will only be eligible for COVID-19 jabs if they have stayed in Macau for at least three months over the past six months.

The Macau government’s COVID-19 vaccination drive started on February 9 with Sinopharm jabs covering those in priority groups such as those working on the frontline against COVID-19 and those working in occupations that are subject to a high COVID-19 risk – i.e. the campaign’s first phase, before the second phase, which covers all local residents, commenced on February 22.

The third phase of the government’s COVID-19 vaccination programme covers non-resident workers, non-local students enrolled in Macau and all other non-locals who hold a permit to stay in Macau. The government’s COVID-19 inoculations for non-resident workers started on March 10 and the vaccinations will now be extended to the other two groups in the third phase – non-local students and all other non-locals holding a permit to stay in Macau.

During yesterday’s press conference, Tai pointed out that the government started its COVID-19 inoculations for non-resident workers early last month for the first part of the campaign’s third phase. He said that the government has decided to start its COVID-19 vaccinations for the other two groups in the third phase as the current number of places for inoculations per day is sufficient.

Macau’s COVID-19 vaccinations are currently carried out at two inoculation facilities at the public Conde de São Januário Hospital Centre, eight public health centres and two public health stations. The government’s 12 COVID-19 vaccination facilities are open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily, where 5,000 places for COVID-19 vaccinations are available per day.

Tai said that on average some 1,000 people per day have their COVID-19 jabs currently, underlining that the current number of places for inoculations is sufficient.

The government’s free COVID-19 vaccination drive covers local residents, non-resident workers and non-local students enrolled in Macau. However, all other non-locals will have to pay 250 patacas per jab.

‘Low’ vaccination rate

Meanwhile, during the press conference Tai admitted a “low” rate of the population, just six percent has so far been inoculated against COVID-19. He insisted, however, that Macau’s low vaccination rate had been expected by the government as many residents don’t think that there is anyurgenly to be vaccinated against COVID-19 due to Macau’s stable novel coronavirus situation.

Tai said that Health Bureau officials are looking at ways of increasing Macau’s COVID-19 still relatively low inoculation rate. In addition to asking more community associations to arrange for their members to get the government’s COVID-19 jabs collectively, the Health Bureau was also discussing with a number of private medical institutions the possible setting-up of new COVID-19 vaccination facilities, such as at Kiang Wu Hospital, with the aim of making it more convenient for residents to get inoculated, Tai said.

According to Tai, as of 4 p.m. yesterday, the number of COVID-19 vaccinations stood at 58,676, comprising 41,117 who have had their first jab and 17,559 who have had their second jab.

Macau’s population –comprising residents, non-resident workers, non-local students and other non-locals holding a permit to stay in Macau – stood at 683,100 at the end of last year, according to the latest available official demographics.

Macau has not recorded a new local COVID-19 case for 374 days.

49th COVID-19 case

The city had not recorded a new COVID-19 case for 60 days, before the Macau government confirmed the city’s 49th COVID-19 case last night.

According to a statement by the government’s Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Centre last night, the latest COVID-19 patient is a 23-year-old male local resident studying in Portugal, who is among 15 Macau residents who returned to Macau yesterday from Europe and the United States via Taipei.

According to the statement, the man departed from Lisbon for Paris on Sunday, where he took a flight to Taipei on Tuesday, before returning to Macau yesterday.

Macau confirmed its first COVID-19 case on January 22 last year. Not a single novel coronavirus fatality has been recorded in Macau.

Tai Wa Hou, the coordinator of the Health Bureau’s (SSM) COVID-19 vaccination programme, addresses yesterday’s press conference about the city’s novel coronavirus (COVID-19) situation. Photo: GCS