Vaccination not a magic bullet, says expert
PETALING JAYA: A public health expert has cautioned that a national Covid-19 vaccination campaign was no “magic bullet” against the virus, and that the public should remain vigilant and compliant with the health and safety rules.
Dr Noran Naqiah Mohd Hairi of the Social and Preventive Medicine Department at Universiti Malaya said even though vaccination will be an important tool in the Covid-19 battle, it will not end the pandemic immediately.
“For vaccination to be truly effective, it must lead to widespread direct protection or herd immunity. So in other words, it will take time for us to see the intended outcome,” she told FMT.
Arguing that it was not the time for the public to sit back and relax, she said there was still a need to continue with all public health measures such as surveillance and response (contact tracing, isolation and quarantine), personal protective measures (hand hygiene, respiratory etiquette, wearing face mask) and also physical distancing.
Azrul Mohd Khalib, chief executive of the Galen Centre for Health and Social Policy agreed with her, saying health measures, especially most of the SOPs put into place for the conditional movement control order, will likely need to be maintained for the next two years.
“The widespread impact of a vaccination programme on a country’s population such as Malaysia will likely only be seen a few months after it has begun.
“So it is essential to maintain constant vigilance until most of the population has been vaccinated,” he told FMT.
Citing research from the Economist Intelligence Unit, which had estimated the time needed for different countries to reach herd immunity, Azrul said Malaysia may only achieve vaccination for more than 60% of its population by the fourth quarter of 2022.
“This is assuming that this is the minimum needed to achieve herd immunity and that the supply of vaccines goes on as planned.
“However, the situation with the EU (European Union) vaccine controls, may already affect this timetable.”
Previously, science, technology and innovation minister Khairy Jamaluddin said frontline workers from the healthcare and security sectors will be vaccinated first, followed by senior citizens and people with chronic illnesses.
He also said Malaysia is on track to receive its supply of Pfizer vaccines next month – one million doses in the first quarter, and 1.7 million, 5.8 million, and 4.3 million in the subsequent quarters.
The European Union recently announced export controls for Covid-19 vaccines manufactured in EU countries.
However, Khairy said that the Pfizer vaccine, manufactured in Belgium, will be delivered on schedule beginning this month. - FMT
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