Irene Chang
SIBU (July 17): Bukit Assek assemblywoman Irene Chang calls on the Sarawak state government to inform the people whether the reason behind the Federal Government’s decision to drop Sinovac from the Covid-19 vaccination rollout was due to the global concern over its efficacy against new and more contagious variants of the coronavirus, especially the delta variant
She also asked whether there was any plan to offer mRNA booster shots to those who were given the Sinovac vaccines, especially for our medical and front-line workers if there are indeed such concerns in a statement yesterday.
She added that to find out the total number of people who might need such booster shots, the state government should reveal the breakdown statistic of our state population who have received Sinovac, Pfizer and AstraZeneca.
“This way, we would know where we stand in terms of the percentage of our state population who have received the respective vaccines and the overall level of immunity of our state population.’
Chang was referring to the disclosure by Health Minister Dr Adham Baba that Malaysia will stop administering Sinovac the Covid-19 vaccine produced by China once its supplies end as the Health Ministry had enough supply of other vaccines.
She noted that there had been a massive rollout of the Sinovac vaccine in the state in the past few weeks in the attempt to inoculate at least 70% of the population by August 2021.
“Are all these people who have been so vaccinated with Sinovac now as vulnerable against the delta variant and other more contagious variants as if they have not been vaccinated at all?”
In Thailand and Indonesia, Chang said there had been reported surge of infections among the medical and frontliners who had been inoculated with two doses of the Sinovac vaccine.
Singapore has also been reported to leave out those who were vaccinated with Sinovac from its tally count of vaccinated people.
Chang pointed out that NikkeiAsia reported on July 15 that China planned to give Covid-19 mRNA vaccine booster shots to people who received Sinovac vaccines in the country in order to increase their protection against the new variants.
“With the delta variant already in Kuching, SDMC should not tarry with the plan to increase the immunity level and protection against the more contagious variants of the coronavirus.
Correct information regarding the new variant should be officially disseminated through the state government portals to combat the many viral messages of the new variants in social media and which might lead to confusion and baseless fear among the people.”
She said the information could encourage people to be more vigilant and take extra care in observing the SOP imposed to curb the spread of the virus .