Macau (MNA) – The Health Bureau (SS) currently disposes of some 1,700 vaccines against measles in its stock.
According to comments on Thursday by the director of the Bureau, Lei Chin Ion, on the sidelines of a committee of the Legislative Assembly (AL), the number is “plenty enough for kids and medical staff.”
The health authority has ordered some 15,000 vaccines to be delivered to Macau, with the first batch of 5,400 to arrive next week.
Starting 8:30 am today, residents have to make an appointment with health centres, by telephone or personally, in order to receive the vaccination.
Children under two years of age, nursery staff and medical professionals are exempted from having to make an appointment.
Asked about the possibility of lowering the vaccination age for babies – currently set at 12 months for the first shot – Mr. Lei said there will be no change of policy at this point, claiming that babies “could not generate enough antibodies” before they reach one year of age.
“Eight-month old babies can be vaccinated but the success rate is low,” Mr. Lei stressed.
The Hong Kong health authority has lowered the age for the second shot of the vaccine yesterday to 18 months from six years old after the number of confirmed measles cases in the city reached 30, the South China Morning Post reported.
The SS director added that the Bureau “will follow the WHO [World Health Organisation] guideline on vaccination.”
WHO guidelines for measles vaccination stipulate that the first dose should be administered between nine and 12 months of age, with six months being defined as the minimum age.
‘Measles is a highly contagious viral disease. It remains an important cause of death among young children globally, despite the availability of a safe and effective vaccine,’ the WHO chapter on the disease reads.
The organisation states that an estimated 7 million people were affected by it in 2016, and that some 110,000 have died form the disease in 2017.
Lei added that there are currently no updates on the situation at the Kiang Wu Hospital, where 15 people were reported to have been contaminated since the measles outbreak.
The private hospital has been considered a case of collective infection by the SS earlier this week.
*With Jane Wong
