Macau is expected to receive, in “October or November”, vaccines against the new coronavirus, responsible for Covid-19, suitable for children between six months and three years, authorities said Thursday.
The region is “in negotiations with suppliers” of mRNA vaccines, an official with the New Coronavirus Contingency Coordination Center of the Macau Health Services (SSM) said.
Leong Iek Hou told a press conference that “according to the response of the suppliers, vaccines will most likely be available in October or November.”
At the moment, Macau only has inactivated vaccines from China’s Sinopharm, for children 3 years and older, and mRNA vaccines (from Germany’s BioNTech) for children between 5 and 11 years of age.
The US regulator in June approved the emergency administration of Pfizer and Moderna’s Covid-19 mRNA vaccines in children as young as six months of age.
For his part, Leong Iek Hou assured that Macao will not replace the mandatory isolation period in hotels with home quarantines for those arriving from abroad, a measure planned in the neighboring Hong Kong region.
According to sources quoted by the South China Morning Post, the Hong Kong government prepares to end quarantine at designated locationsreplacing it with a week of “medical self-monitoring” that can be done at home.
The head of the SSM defended that “eliminating the quarantine or reducing the days of quarantine could pose a risk to our community.”
Leong Iek Hou admitted that “90% of cases are detected in the first days” of quarantine, but said he would reduce the isolation period only after “analyzing data from neighboring regions and scientific studies.”
Unlike those entering the Chinese border, those arriving from abroad or Hong Kong are still required to serve seven days of quarantine in a hotel, followed by three days of “medical self-monitoring”. that can be done at home.
Macau extended, as of Wednesday, from 48 hours to seven days the validity of the negative Covid-19 test required for anyone taking a flight in the region, which also applies to flights to Singapore and Taiwan, currently the only connections to Macau abroad. .
Leong Iek Hou confirmed on Thursday that Macao is preparing to resume flights with Japan and Vietnam.
If we do a strict sanitary inspection and close management in the hotels, it will not cause much risk in our community”, he guaranteed.
Macao follows the zero case policy imposed by Beijing, betting on massive testing of the population and confinement to prevent the spread of Covid-19 cases.
The Chinese Special Administrative Region faced the worst outbreak of Covid-19 in June and July. Since the start of the pandemic, it has registered six deaths and 2,397 infected (793 confirmed cases and 1,604 asymptomatic).
Source: Observadora
