Macau has entered its peak flu season, but Education and Youth Development Bureau (DSEDJ) Director Kong Chi Meng told the media yesterday that influenza has not yet spread in local kindergartens and schools, underlining that that the flu vaccination coverage rate of Macau’s primary and secondary school and kindergarten students was “very high” thanks to the government’s school-based influenza vaccination programme, with more than 70 percent of them having been jabbed against the flu this academic year.
According to Kong, the influenza vaccination rate of kindergartens exceeds 80 percent, while that of primary schools stands at nearly 80 percent and that of secondary schools at nearly 70 percent. Kong said: “[Flu] vaccines offered at schools [in the 2024-2025 academic year] were completed in November and December [last year]”
Kong pointed out that some students were not immunised because of their specific health conditions, such as allergies, among other personal reasons: “Every year a group of students is left behind,” underlining that the bureau would communicate closely with schools and issue a notice to urge students who have not yet been vaccinated to make appointments at local health centres “within two to three weeks before the Chinese New Year” or to just walk in.
According to Kong, a new electronic system has been introduced this year to assist schools in making appointments with the Health Bureau (SSM) for vaccination of their students.
Kong made the remarks on the sidelines of yesterday’s work conference at the Macao Polytechnic University (MPU) in Zape with 200 representatives of the city’s education sector involving all levels on influenza and the Chinese New Year (CNY) holidays.
In view of the CNY holidays, according to Kong, the conference was convened to remind school officials to step up their efforts to ensure campus cleanliness and raise students’ awareness of self-health management, in particular when travelling outside Macau during the holidays.
Concerning the risk that students may be confronted with the possible peak of seasonal influenza during the CNY holidays when travelling outside Macau and visiting relatives in their families’ hometowns, Kong said schools had been informed to verify through online means the health conditions of their students three days before returning to their school after the holidays, as well as to record the number of students who needed to stay at home, with a view to help his bureau decide on the measures that should be taken in collaboration with the Health Bureau.
The DSEDJ has noted that if a student was absent from school due to illness, the school should rearrange for the student to undergo a classroom assessment, taking into account school-based adjustments to their curricula, and that students feeling unwell should seek medical attention as soon as possible and stay at home, while informing the school of their condition in a timely manner.
Senior officials of the Education and Youth Development Bureau (DSEDJ) and Health Bureau (SSM), including DSEDJ Director Kong Chi Meng (centre), address yesterday’s work conference at the Macao Polytechnic University (MPU) in Zape. – Photo: MPDG
