BY: Michelle Liew
The Malaysian Health Ministry announced that it has started giving out booster shots to those aged 40 years old and older under the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme.
According to Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin, the booster shots will be prioritised for those who are above 40 years old and those who have comorbidities as of now.
“Those eligible will receive their appointments through their MySejahtera application.
“When you receive an appointment through the MySejahtera app, please make sure that you are present to get the booster shot.
“Through this, it will increase our protection against Covid-19 infection,” he stated through a video on the Health Ministry’s official Facebook page on Wednesday.
Keberkesanan vaksin COVID-19 akan menurun selepas beberapa bulan. Sebab itu PICK memberi dos penggalak. Pemberian dos penggalak yang berbeza dari dos asal dilaksana di banyak negara. Di Chile, dos penggalak Pfizer kepada penerima Sinovac ⬆️ keberkesanan sehingga 95%. pic.twitter.com/Suh3wVnmex
— Khairy Jamaluddin 🇲🇾🌺 (@Khairykj) November 15, 2021
Khairy laments that around 40% of people who received their vaccine booster appointment dates under the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (PICK) are not showing up for the jab. Expressing great worry, he noted that the number of hospitalisations will increase if the rate of booster jabs being administered remain low.
It is to be noted that Malaysia’s Covid-19 R-nought (basic reproduction number) back to 1.0. R0 (R-nought) is an indicator of how contagious the infection is. It shows the average number of people who will contract the disease from a single infected person.
“If booster take-up is low, especially among the elderly’s and those with comorbidities, hospitalisation numbers will go up. This is for sure,” he tweeted.
Therefore, he strongly urged those who had received their appointment dates to proceed with the jab. It will strengthen their immunity and protection against Covid-19.
Booster dosing began nationwide on Oct 13 for fully vaccinated individuals in order to ensure that the people can maintain their immunity for an optimal period, especially against Delta variant infections.
