KUALA LUMPUR, July 13 — Covid-19 vaccination helped reduce hospitalisation and intensive care unit (ICU) admissions among elderly patients over the past six weeks, Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said today.
Vaccine Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said last week that 2,301,657 people aged 60 and above have received at least their first dose as of July 4, which comprises about 66 per cent of Malaysia’s 3.5 million elderly population.
“As a result of the first and second phases of the vaccination programme, which primarily targeted medical frontline workers as well as the elderly and those with comorbidities, we have seen a drop in admissions and ICU cases among those above the age of 60,” Dr Noor Hisham told a media briefing today.
“The increase in hospital admissions now involves young adults who have not been vaccinated.
“It is clear that vaccination can reduce hospitalisation and ICU rates. So, this is the solution. We hope Malaysians can get fully vaccinated with two doses to develop the antibodies required,” he said.
As of July 12, a total of 11,788,189 people or 34.6 per cent of the population have received at least one dose of the vaccine, with 15.7 per cent fully vaccinated.
Dr Noor Hisham, however, said that vaccination will not prevent infection as regular tests carried out on health care workers show that 2,779 fully vaccinated MOH staff contracted the virus two weeks after their second dose.
Nevertheless, the majority of the cases identified were asymptomatic or mild Covid-19 cases. Only three were in Category Three, and another three in Category Four.
“Not only does vaccination help to reduce hospitalisation rates and the chances of you catching the virus, but it also reduces the probability of infecting others by 50 per cent.
“We hope more Malaysian will get vaccinated and reduce admissions in hospitals. Our solution is to use vaccines so that we can live with the virus,” Dr Noor Hisham said.
