Mainland Chinese losing faith in domestic brands head to Macau to get western mRNA vaccine

 

 Mainland Chinese losing faith in domestic brands head to Macau to get western mRNA vaccine

  Macau has lifted restrictions on vaccinations for short-stay visitors and is offering the BioNTech shot for a fee

  Shenzhen couple have not been vaccinated at home but Beijing’s relaxation of Covid rules prompts trip to get the jab

Macau is best known for its casinos but now, for some Chinese, its big attraction is the BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine.

The mRNA vaccine is widely used in Hong Kong, Macau and around the world but is not approved for use in mainland China.

But last month Macau’s Covid-19 Infection Response Coordination Centre announced that it was lifting restrictions on vaccinations for short-stay visitors.

And since then, the Macau University of Science and Technology (MUST) Hospital – the only vaccination site offering mRNA vaccination for tourists – has become the hot destination for mainland visitors.

For now though, mainland tourists can only receive the vaccine targeting the original strain of Covid-19, with the bivalent shot targeting new variants restricted to residents.

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A mainland tourist from Shenzhen who would only identify herself as Chenchen Wan said she was vaccinated along with her husband in Macau on Tuesday.

Wan said they had considered vaccination unnecessary while the mainland’s zero-Covid policy minimised the risk of infection, but the couple had changed their mind since the opening up by Beijing and surge in cases.

She said they opted for the mRNA vaccine because there was a lot of information online, giving Wan more confidence.

The vaccines are also available in Hong Kong, on the border with Shenzhen, but the border remains closed to mainland visitors, forcing the couple to make the 2½-hour drive to Macau.

Residents in Macau have access to free vaccines but mainland tourists must pay between HK$1,360 (US$175) and HK$1,650 (US$212) a shot. No refunds or rescheduling are allowed, according to the Go Smart website, the official appointment platform for self-paid mRNA vaccinations open to mainlanders.

Wan said the vaccinations “did not cost much” because her husband’s company provided extra health insurance to cover the fees for both of them.

“That’s nearly HK$6,000 to get fully vaccinated,” she said. “My friends who also wanted to take the shot but without such insurance found the price quite expensive, especially considering travel and accommodation will cost extra.”

Wan said she was waiting for Hong Kong to reopen, following the recently eased Covid-19 restrictions in China, to receive the second dose there.

Another Shenzhen resident who gave the name Zalina said she made an appointment before the easing of Covid-19 restrictions, but her entry to Macau was denied because the city would not admit visitors from cities with cases in the past 14 days. The ban was lifted last week.

“Over a thousand dollars was wasted, just like that,” Zalina said.

“I would definitely have mRNA vaccines, if possible. Experimental data on the internet shows the protective effects of mRNA are generally better than domestic ones,” she said. “The vaccination rate in Shenzhen is very high, yet there are still a large number of infections.”

An appointment for the MUST Hospital must be made a week before the shot is taken, and mRNA vaccination appointments have been booked solid for over a month, with the earliest available for mainlanders on January 21.

Wan said she struggled to make the appointment, finding Go Smart unresponsive via either the hotline or email.

“It felt so hard to communicate with them when my husband and I wanted to consult,” Wan said.

Even so, mainlanders’ enthusiasm for obtaining mRNA shots in Macau remains high. Zalina pressed on after her first failed attempt and, like many mainlanders, made an appointment for January 2.

Li Jun, a piano teacher from the northern city of Dalian, Liaoning province, is planning her vaccination trip to Macau.

She has not had any Covid-19 jabs in mainland China for fear of severe side effects described online – claims denied by mainland health authorities who say Chinese vaccines are very safe and the occurrence of severe side effects is lower than one in every million doses.

“My job does not require me to get vaccinated anyway, so I did not get a single shot here in mainland China,” she said.

Li said she had made an appointment for January.

But what they really wanted was to have the shots at home.

“I hope the mRNA vaccine can be approved in the mainland soon,” Wan said. “It is completely acceptable, even if we have to pay for it. The most important thing is to let people have a choice.”