Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah
KUCHING (Sept 21): Covid-19 vaccine booster shots should be administered only if really necessary, said Minister of Youth and Sports Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah.
He said the government needs to really study from the experience of other countries like the United Kingdom (UK), United States (US), parts of Europe, Singapore, and other developing countries which have already achieved high vaccination rate.
He added the government should let the experts who are more knowledgeable about this matter to analyse and decide if Malaysians or Sarawakians should be given booster doses or not.
Adding on, he said there is also a need to really study and see whether the third dose can bring more harm or good to the people.
“If the booster dose is really needed, why not? But if it is not effective and harm the people’s health, why should we administer it to our people?
“It is also important that we make sure that certain groups of people will not take advantage of the situation to make huge profits,” he told a press conference after launching the Asajaya District Community Policing Programme 2021 in Asajaya yesterday.
Abdul Karim said he wondered why some people kept calling for the third dose to be administered in Malaysia when its effectiveness is still uncertain.
He believed the administering of booster doses would only make certain pharmaceutical companies profit from it.
Abdul Karim pointed out that the people in England were administered with only two doses of the vaccine and they could now watch football matches in stadiums like during pre-pandemics days.
“Look at every match in the English Premier League, the stadium is full of spectators.
“Not only that. No one wears masks and I don’t think they have received their third dose. People in England are getting Pfizer and AstraZeneca like us and so why you want us to go for the third dose?” he added.
On a suggestion for the vaccine booster dose to be administered to Sarawak athletes first, he reiterated that the minister responsible for health in Sarawak and the State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) need to really consider whether it is necessary or not for the athletes to get the booster doses.