KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 8 — A total of 21,153 Covid-19 cases among health care workers were reported this year as of September, with a third of confirmed infections recorded in August alone.
According to Ministry of Health (MOH) data presented to the health, science and innovation parliament special select committee in a meeting on September 14, there were 7,027 health care workers who had contracted the virus in August — the highest in a month as of then.
Overall, a total of 23,411 Covid-19 cases among health care workers have been reported since March last year, of which 10 per cent or 2,258 cases were recorded in 2020.
Separately, MOH data from March 7, 2021, until September 12, 2021, showed that 14,554 or 83 per cent of 17,568 confirmed cases among health care workers were fully vaccinated, with 293 cases (2 per cent) contracting the virus within 14 days after receiving their second dose, 658 cases (4 per cent) with one dose, and 419 cases (2 per cent) unvaccinated. Vaccination data was not available for the remaining 1,644 cases (9 per cent).
Confirmed Covid-19 cases by vaccination status among health care workers in Malaysia from March 7, 2021, to September 12, 2021. Picture from Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin’s presentation to Parliament’s health, science and innovation committee on September 14, 2021.
Among the 14,554 breakthrough Covid-19 cases among fully vaccinated health care workers, only 14 cases (0.096 per cent) were in Category Three, eight cases (0.055 per cent) were in Category Four, and five cases (0.034 per cent) were in Category Five. A total of 9,714 cases (66.7 per cent) were in Category Two and 4,813 cases (33.07 per cent) were in Category One.
MOH’s slides were published in the parliament committee’s “Transitioning from Pandemic to Endemic Covid-19 Safely and Sustainably” report that was tabled in Parliament last Monday.
Health care workers were the first group to get vaccinated — mostly with Pfizer-BioNTech — when Covid-19 vaccines were rolled out nationwide in February under the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (PICK).
They are being prioritised for booster shots now, to be given at least six months after their second jab, to curb waning immunity.
