PETALING JAYA: A think tank has urged the government to find ways to convince people to get booster vaccine injections against Covid-19.
Azrul Khalib, CEO of the Galen Centre for Health and Social Policy, told FMT he believed vaccine fatigue and distrust of the Covid-19 vaccines were the main reasons for reluctance among the public to get the booster shots.
He said Putrajaya would have to figure out how to persuade people to get the jabs since it could not force them to do so.
“We have the vaccine supplies, the infrastructure and the experience from the previous vaccine programmes,” he said. “The problem is convincing people to get vaccinated again.
“It is essential to remind everyone that with this disease and the vaccines that we’re currently depending on, boosters are necessary, especially if your primaries are the inactivated virus vaccines like Sinovac.
“People need to know that not being vaccinated or boosted is equivalent to gambling with their lives and those of their loved ones.”
Former deputy health minister Dr Lee Boon Chye said those who were immunocompromised and had a high risk of Covid-19 complications should be told to get their second booster doses as soon as possible.
Speaking to FMT, he said a second booster might not be necessary for those who were healthy.
“But there has to be a caveat for those who are immunocompromised, patients who are on steroids or who have cancer or blood disorders,” he said. “Their immunity is weaker and they should receive the second booster.”
Last Sunday, health minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa urged the public to get their second Covid-19 booster doses in light of the spike in Covid-19 cases in China.
She noted that 49.8% of Malaysians had received their first booster dose but only 1.9% took their second.
Health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the two main Covid-19 variants accounting for nearly 80% of mutations found in China have been detected in Malaysia.
As of Dec 31, 4,148 people in the country have been infected with BA.5.2 and three infected with BF.7.
Source: FMT
