KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 3 — The Ministry of Health (MOH) today indicated that certain groups of people might require boosters to be considered fully vaccinated against Covid-19.
Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin mentioned that the ministry is discussing if there is a need to change the Covid-19 vaccination status for certain people who completed their primary vaccination series.
These individuals may need to take a booster shot to retain their fully vaccinated status that is used in vaccine passes on MySejahtera to enter public premises.
“It is possible that for certain groups, the full vaccination status might require a booster dose,” Khairy said in a press conference today, without specifying them.
“But there is no decision yet. We are still discussing it and by next week, we will have an announcement on that.”
Singapore yesterday announced that eligible Sinovac or Sinopharm vaccine recipients must get a third shot by December 31 to be considered fully vaccinated. Otherwise, their vaccination status will revert to “vaccination in progress” from January 1, 2022.
Singapore’s MOH strongly recommends mRNA vaccines like Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna for boosters unless the recipients are medically unfit for those vaccines.
Khairy said that Malaysia’s MOH will further intensify Covid-19 booster vaccination programmes by enhancing capacity to ensure that people understand the significance of getting boosters.
The health minister also said the ministry will carry out an “aggressive” awareness campaign to educate people on the importance of getting vaccinated against the coronavirus to encourage unvaccinated Malaysians and foreign workers to receive their primary Covid-19 vaccine.
MOH has set a target to give Covid-19 booster jabs to at least 75 per cent of individuals who received their primary vaccination.
Khairy said the 75 per cent booster target is the initial aim of MOH, although the ministry wants all Malaysians to receive a booster jab.
“Of course we want all of them who have received primary Covid-19 vaccines, to also get their booster jabs. We hope at least 75 per cent of those who have received their first and second dose to receive their booster jab.
“Of course we want 100 per cent, but we are targeting 75 per cent for now.”
As of December 2, the CovidNow database showed that 97 per cent of the adult population have been fully vaccinated. From a total of 23.4 million adults in Malaysia, approximately 22.7 million people have received their primary vaccine series.
According to MOH’s GitHub data, as of yesterday, a total of 2,728,294 booster shots have been administered in the country.
About 12 per cent of adults have received Covid-19 booster shots as of yesterday.
