Macao’s Covid-19 vaccination rate hit 65.98 per cent yesterday afternoon – indicating citizens have had either one or two jabs – however seniors are still reluctant to get inoculated.
Health Bureau (SSM) Control of Communicable Diseases and Surveillance of Diseases Department Coordinator Leong Iek Hou said that the government’s most important objective is to increase the senior citizens’ Covid-19 inoculation rate.
In addition to senior citizens, the Covid-19 vaccination rate amongst teenagers is also still low, Leong said, while remarking that overall the rate was “consistent and ideal”.
Leong said the latest vaccination rates for the different age groups are:
12-19: 45.8 per cent
20-29: 87.2 per cent
30-39: 90.1 per cent
40-49: 94.3 per cent
50-59: 75.7 per cent
60-69: 52.4 per cent
70-79: 30.7 per cent
80+: 8.3 per cent
Macao’s Covid-19 vaccination rates among young and middle-aged people are high, reaching around 80 to 90 per cent, but concerning senior citizens, Leong said, the older they are, the lower their inoculation rates.
Leong noted that those aged 12 or over can now choose between two types of Covid-19 vaccines, China’s Sinopharm inactivated vaccine and Germany’s BioNTech mRNA vaccine, and urged parents to get their teenage children inoculated as soon as possible.
Both Sinopharm and BioNTech shots are administered to those aged 12 or over in Macao. The SSM lowered the minimum age for the administration of Sinopharm vaccine from 18 to 12 last week.
Leong noted that the Covid-19 vaccination rate among all SSM staff stood at 85 per cent last week.
Leong also reaffirmed that research studies worldwide have indicated that senior citizens who have been infected with Covid-19 are up to 100 times more likely than young people to suffer a serious condition or even die from the disease.
As of 4 pm yesterday, 790,170 doses of Covid-19 vaccine had been administered to 451,006 people in Macao, comprising 107,776 who had received their first jab and 343,230 who had received their second jab.
A total of 21 adverse events were reported in the past 24 hours (until 4 pm yesterday). The total number of adverse events since the start of the vaccination drive stood at 3,304, or 0.42 per cent of the total number of jabs, including eight serious cases.
Leong also said that the government has resumed its outreach Covid-19 vaccination programme for local schools following yesterday’s resumption of in-class lessons.
Leong also said that the SSM had launched its outreach Covid-19 inoculation drive last week for senior citizens living in retirement homes.
Macao has not recorded a new local Covid-19 case for 16 consecutive days after the latest case was confirmed on 9 October. Macao’s Covid-19 tally stands at 77, without any fatalities, The Macau Post Daily reported.
