Questions about jabs for 250,000 people who have recovered

KUALA LUMPUR: Although the introduction of the vaccine is a buzz, there are now still concerns about the 256,678 individuals who have recovered from the infections. Are they still going to need vaccinations? The Ministry of Health (MOH) says it will determine the need for these patients to be vaccinated, said Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah, Director-General of Health.

Noor Hisham said the antibodies developed by former patients with mild to no symptoms from level one to level three of the infection might not be enough to combat the virus, so they may need to be vaccinated.

“If the infection was at level four or five, the generated antibodies would be more permanent and higher, but we will assess the matter,” he told Bernama here today.

Tomorrow, two days ahead of schedule, Malaysia’s largest vaccination exercise, known as the national Covid-19 vaccination programme, starts.

Noor Hisham will be among the first individuals to receive the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine following the launch ceremony of the program by Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin.

In the meantime, Noor Hisham said the start of the program would also mark the beginning of the end of the country’s spread of the Covid-19 virus, with vaccination protection from inside.

In addition to external security, he said, this will be achieved by compliance with all preventive measures and public health regulation, as well as adherence to standard operating procedures.

Muhyiddin is expected to receive the first injection of the vaccine at the Presint 11 health office in the Putrajaya district at 3 pm tomorrow. He will be accompanied by the ministry’s health worker, Noor Hisham, and another ministry staff member. Two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine will be given to recipients, with the second dose given 21 days after the first injection.