The Health Bureau (SSM) said yesterday that a certain number of walk-in places for COVID-19 vaccinations will be available at the government’s new novel coronavirus inoculation facility at the Macau Forum complex in Zape, which will start operating tomorrow.
The bureau said that the availability of walk-in vaccinations at the new Macau Forum inoculation facility aims to encourage more residents to get their COVID-19 jabs.
Liang Sung Wen, a senior Health Bureau doctor tasked with overseeing the operation of the new vaccination facility at Macau Forum, briefed reporters on-site yesterday about the operation of the “large-sized community vaccination station”.
The new Macau Forum inoculation facility will run from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily.
Only Sinopharm inoculations will be available initially after the new vaccination facility at Macau Forum comes into service.
Two types of COVID-19 vaccines are currently available in Macau, China’s Sinopharm inactivated vaccine and Germany’s BioNTech mRNA vaccine. Currently, Sinopharm jabs are administered to those aged 18 or over in Macau, while BioNTech shots are given to those aged 16 or over.
Macau’s COVID-19 vaccinations are currently carried out at 14 facilities, comprising two inoculation facilities at the public Conde de São Januário Hospital Centre, eight public health centres, two public health stations, as well as the private Kiang Wu Hospital and the University Hospital run by the private Macau University of Science and Technology (MUST) in Taipa.
Among the 14 current inoculation facilities, the public hospital’s blood sample collection room, the Ocean Gardens Health Centre and the Ilha Verde Health Centre are used only for BioNTech inoculations. The other 11 vaccination facilities, including Kiang Wu Hospital, MUST’s University Hospital and the one at the public hospital’s outpatient department, are used only for Sinopharm inoculations.
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 who hold a permit to stay in Macau, such as the family members of non-resident workers employed in Macau, have to pay 250 patacas per jab – which means that they have to pay 500 patacas to be inoculated against COVID-19 considering that each person requires two jabs.
COVID-19 inoculations at Macau Forum will be provided for local residents, non-resident workers and non-local students enrolled in Macau.
All other non-locals can only choose to get their COVID-19 jabs at the two facilities at the public hospital, the eight public health centres and the two public health stations.
Speaking to reporters yesterday, Liang underlined that the Health Bureau will “adjust” the opening hours of the Macau Forum inoculation facility, the number of places available there per day, and the types of COVID-19 vaccines in response to residents’ changing demand for COVID-19 vaccinations.
Liang said that walk-in vaccinations would be available at the Macau Forum inoculation facility, depending on the appointment situation on a particular day.
“We will provide walk-in vaccinations [at the Macau Forum inoculation facility] as we encourage residents to be inoculated [against COVID-19]. We will have a certain number of walk-in quotas available here,” Liang said.
Liang also said that the number of doctors and nurses working at the Macau Forum inoculation facility will depend on the number of vaccination appointments on that day.
Liang said that, for example, if 200 appointments for COVID-19 jabs at the Macau Forum facility have been made for a particular day, the Health Bureau will deploy two doctors and two or three nurses on that day.
An area of the Macau Forum complex has been used as a nucleic acid testing (NAT) station since July last year.
The bureau has set up one entrance/exit for the new vaccination facility at Macau Forum, in Avenida do Dr. Rodrigo Rodrigues.
Meanwhile, the Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Centre announced in a statement that as of 4 p.m. yesterday, 136,887 doses of COVID-19 vaccine had been administered to 86,956 people in Macau, comprising 36,798 who had received their first jab and 50,158 who had received their second jab.
A total of 12 adverse events were reported in the past 24 hours (until 4 p.m. yesterday). The total number of adverse events since the start of the vaccination drive stood at 621, or 0.45 percent of the total number of jabs, including two serious cases.
Health Bureau’s (SSM) members of staff yesterday prepare for tomorrow’s opening of the new Macau Forum COVID-19 inoculation facility. Photo: GCS
