As of 10th February 2022, Malaysia has administered 12,926,703 COVID-19 vaccine booster shots nationwide which covers 55.2% of the total adult population. Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin has revealed that 47.9% of Malays in the country have received their COVID-19 vaccine boosters and 81.3% of Chinese have gotten their booster jab. Meanwhile, 56.4% of Indians and 49.6% of other Bumiputra ethnic groups have been boosted.
At the moment, Sarawak leads in the booster programme with a booster coverage of 76.8%, followed by Melaka at 71.9% and the Klang Valley at 66.9%. Sabah currently has the lowest booster coverage at 24.8%, followed by Kelantan at 25.3% and Perlis at 30.9%.
Based on the table shared by Khairy, less than 40% of Malays in Kedah, Terengganu, Perlis and Kelantan have received their booster shots. This is in contrast to Sarawak, Melaka and Labuan, where over 60% of Malays have gotten their boosters. Khairy said more awareness is needed on Facebook due to the lower percentage of Malays getting their boosters.
In Sarawak, 76.5% of other Bumiputra ethnic groups (which may include Iban, Bidayuh, Melanau and Kelabit) have been boosted. however, in Sabah, only 24% of other Bumiputra ethnic groups (which may include Kadazan, Dusun and Bajau) have been boosted.
Despite the slowdown due to the Chinese New Year holiday season, the booster vaccination programme is starting to pick up again with 153,346 doses administered yesterday. As announced two weeks ago, all mega vaccination centres are accepting walk-ins for boosters. The booster shot is also available at all private health clinics under ProtectHealth and you can call them up to make an arrangement.
Last week, the Ministry of Health has revealed that 3.5 million Sinovac recipients have yet to get their booster shot. Despite repeated reminders and recommendations to get Pfizer or AstraZeneca booster, many Sinovac recipients are hesitant to get a different vaccine jab for their boosters. Khairy said any booster is better than no booster, therefore the Ministry will soon allow individuals fully vaccinated with Sinovac to book Sinovac for their boosters on a first-come-first-served basis.
All Sinovac recipients must get their boosters by 1st March 2022 or else they will lose their fully vaccinated status on MySejahtera. The booster requirement is also required for all senior citizens regardless of which vaccine they took.
Malaysia is currently experiencing a surge of new infections due to the Omicron wave. Today, the Ministry of Health has recorded 20,939 new COVID-19 cases in Malaysia and 99% of them had mild or no symptoms. This is an indication that vaccinations and boosters work in reducing the severity of COVID-19.
At the moment, the national infectivity rate is RT 1.51. Based on the predictive model, Malaysia may record more than 30,000 cases in a day before the end of this month if the infectivity rate surges to RT1.6.
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