Mainland Chinese eager to secure western messenger RNA vaccines rather than domestic jabs are flocking to Macau, where they have booked out the only hospital offering the inoculations to tourists.Beijing has not approved any foreign Covid-19 vaccines for use by its citizens, instead relying on jabs from Chinese groups Sinovac and Sinopharm. Analysts have said these provide lower levels of immunity than western alternatives, which use mRNA technology.

But an abrupt U-turn by Beijing this month on its former zero-Covid policy of containing the disease has sparked an explosion of cases and prompted a surge in the number of mainlanders seeking mRNA jabs in Macau. The former Portuguese colony and special administrative region is the only place outside mainland China where the country‘s citizens can travel without having to quarantine on return.

The vaccination slots have been quickly booked up as China’s outbreak has spiralled out of control. In October, Ivy, a 27-year-old resident of Dongguan across the border in mainland China, received her first mRNA dose at the Macau University of Science and Technology Hospital, the only place administering jabs to paying tourists.