KUCHING: The government’s March 1 deadline for individuals to take the Covid-19 booster shots as a condition for them to be considered fully vaccinated is fair, said an academic.
Dr Helmy Hazmi, an Associate Professor attached to Universiti Malaysia Sarawak’s (UNIMAS) Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, said this was in the interest of not only the individuals but also their families and the community.
“This community includes school-going children and college students who have been missing a lot in their studies, business owners who are just beginning to recover their losses, and healthcare workers who are just beginning to regain their energy and resume their usual non-COVID-19 services,” he said.
Dr Helmy was asked to comment on Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin’s recent statement to make booster doses a requirement for citizens aged 60 and above and for all adult recipients of the Sinovac vaccines to retain their fully vaccinated status.
“The Health Minister’s call is to ensure that everyone is inclusive in this battle against COVID-19. The more people get their booster doses, the lower the risk of disease transmission within the community and the milder the disease will be if someone is infected,” he said.
Dr Helmy said the waning protection was more of a concern for the elderly and the immunocompromised, as they had weaker immune responses to the vaccine than young people.
This was very relevant in view of the circulating Omicron variant and lately, the Omicron BA.2 subvariant, he added.
“Real-world evidence shows that booster doses are effective and safe, and that switching to a different vaccine as a booster dose is not a problem,” he said, stressing that in Israel, those who received booster doses had 10 times lower infection rates than those who only received the initial two-dose course.
“For those who had Sinovac as their primary doses, please know that Omicron is now the prevalent strain in the community, and both Pfizer-BioNTech and AstraZeneca booster doses produce enough antibody response against Omicron as compared to Sinovac booster dose.
“Most importantly, it is safe. Minor side effects are common and nothing to be worried about.”
Dr Helmy urged the public not to listen to rumours and unverified news, saying they should instead seek advice from certified health professionals.
Earlier, Khairy said 32 per cent or one million senior citizens aged 60 years and above had yet to take their booster doses, while some 3.5 million other individuals fully vaccinated with Sinovac had also not received their booster shots.
