Macau Health Bureau says that while participation is voluntary, the government will strongly encourage locals to become vaccinated. The health agency says it will only provide vaccinations to the public once the vaccines arrive and have been independently verified to be safe and effective.

The pandemic has devastated the economy of Macau, which is highly dependent on its casinos. Gross gaming revenue from January through November is down 80.5%. The six licensed casino operators in the region have won $27.2 billion fewer gaming dollars in 2020 than they had at this time last year.

Macau did not disclose where it plans to acquire the vaccines. Trials of a China-backed COVID-19 vaccine conducted in the United Arab Emirates concluded this week that the vaccine is 86% effective.

Vaccine is the needed to Recovery

Though COVID-19 hasn’t resulted in any deaths in Macau, the coronavirus has severely damaged the economic lifeline. The number of visitor arrivals has declined more than 86% through the first 10 months of 2020. Hotel occupancy rate is down 66%, with less than 25% of guestrooms being occupied.

With the vaccine not expected to arrive in Macau until sometime in 2021, the typically busy New Year festivities will be muted. The gaming hub typically attracts 30,000 onlookers who pack the shoreline of the Peninsula and Taipa to watch the fireworks display. Macau has called off its New Years Eve fireworks event.

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