The Government of Macau announced that it will make a fourth dose of the Covid-19 vaccine available to the entire population starting Friday, prioritizing the most vulnerable people, namely the elderly and immunocompromised patients.
In a statement released on Wednesday night, the New Type of Coronavirus Contingency Coordination Center revealed that starting this Thursday, the second booster dose of the vaccine can be scheduled.
For the highest risk groups, the center decided reduce the minimum interval between the third and fourth dose vaccine from six months to three months.
These groups include people age 59 and older, people age 11 and older with moderate or severe autoimmune diseases (including cancer, transplant recipients, AIDS patients), and people age 17 and older who live in nursing homes or rehabilitation institutions.
For the general population, the minimum interval between the third and fourth doses of the vaccine is maintained Half-year.
Macau has been administering mRNA vaccines from BioNTech-Pfizer and inactivated vaccines from China’s Sinopharm.
The New Type of Coronavirus Contingency Coordination Center recommends that those who have received two doses of the Sinopharm vaccine choose the mRNA vaccine as a booster dose, as “mixed vaccination (…) may have a better protective effect.”
The statement recalls that the six deaths during the recent outbreak were recorded in older people with chronic diseases, some of whom were not vaccinated.
The goal of making a fourth dose of the Covid-19 vaccine available is “minimize the risk of another large-scale outbreak in Macausaid the center.
Macau, which had registered around 80 covid-19 infections since January 2020, suffered in June the worst outbreak faced since the start of the pandemic, which infected 1,821 people, most of them asymptomatic, and caused the death of six elderly people. ., diagnosed with chronic diseases.
Covid-19: Macau expands isolation zones and closes public services
On July 10, the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control and the European Medicines Agency recommended the administration of a fourth dose of vaccines against Covid-19 to citizens between 60 and 79 years of age and vulnerable people.
COVID-19. The ECDC and the EMA recommend a second booster dose of the vaccine for people aged 60 to 79 years
Also Cape Verde and Brazil have already recommended taking the fourth dose vaccine against Covid-19, especially for the elderly and people with chronic diseases.
Source: Observadora
