Macao, Feb 23 (IANS): The Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) started inoculating local residents who are not in prioritised groups with Covid-19 vaccines produced by the mainland.

Around 2,600 residents made reservations for inoculation on the first day at 12 medical facilities, which can offer services to 5,000 people in total on a daily basis, according to the Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Center of Macao, Xinhua news agency reported.

As of Monday, about 15,000 residents in Macao had made reservations for inoculation and over 3,000 in prioritized groups had completed the inoculation, according to the center.

The first batch of mainland-made inactivated vaccines arrived in Macao on February 6. Inoculation officially started on February 9, with Macao SAR Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng being the first one to be vaccinated. Priority was given to certain groups of people, including those engaged in frontline work for epidemic control and those who are at high risk in terms of occupational exposure.

As of Monday, no locally-transmitted Covid-19 cases had been reported in Macao for nearly 11 months. A total of 48 confirmed cases had been reported.