Health DG cautions against Covid-19 infection risk among those vaccinated

Those who have not vaccinated are at the highest risk of being infected with Covid-19, Health Director General Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah says. He also reminded everyone to remain vigilant with their observation of SOPs to prevent being infected against a rise in the Covid-19 cases.

PUTRAJAYA, Nov 12 – Health Director General Tan Sri Dr. Noor Hisham Abdullah today warned against Covid-19 infection possibility among those vaccinated.

He said studies from Real World Data found proof that the level of immunity eases after several months of vaccination and that this increases the risk of being infected.

This has raised the number of Covid-19 cases among the vaccinated, he said at a press conference here today.

The emergence of variants of concern has also given rise to case increases with the variants’ ability to spread fast.

Dr Noor said the rate of the virus transmission or Rt rate has also gone up to 1.0 based on the number of daily cases nationwide up to November 11 from the first week of October.

He said this was five weeks after the opening up of all sectors and interstate travelling was allowed.

He also drew comparison to the opening up of travel in December last year and the increased number of Covid-19 cases peaking after five weeks following the opening up of interstate travel.

He said this two similar trends should serve as a warning and that active measures must be taken to ensure that a rise in Covid-19 cases does not happen.

Among the measures should be increasing the vaccination level, providing booster shots as well as continuing to observe the standard operating procedures (SOPs) to prevent infection in the first place.

He said booster shots were already being administered in several countries such as UK and Singapore, especially to those with compromised immunity, those above 60 as well as frontliners exposed to the virus.

The Health Ministry has studied the safety of a booster shot and it has been found to be effective in guarding against the virus. It is also looking into expanding the provision of booster shots for those aged above 18 with comorbidities, those above 40 and with possibility of heart diseases, as well as pregnant women and frontliners.

In Malaysia, more than 800,000 booster shots have been given, he said.

He also reminded the remaining 21.7 percent of the Malaysians who are yet to be vaccinated that they belong in the highest risk of infection category for now.

Dr Noor also reminded everyone to continue to use face mask, wash hands and observe other SOPs to ensure that they cut their risk of being infected with the virus.

On Nov 12, the country reported a total of 6,517 new Covid-19 cases, bringing total number of cases to 2,535,338 in the country.

A total of 49 deaths were also recorded.

–WE