The Malaysian Medical Association emblem is seen at their headquarters in Kuala Lumpur November 13, 2019. — Picture by Hari Anggara
KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 18 — The Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) advised the anti-vaxxers to get vaccinated before they or their loved ones become the next Covid-19 victims.
MMA president Dr Koh Kar Chai in a statement said as doctors, the MMA members had seen anti-vaxxer patients changing their tune on vaccines when a family member or they themselves contracted Covid-19.
“Often we see that when a family member dies from Covid-19, all of a sudden the vaccines become important to the surviving family members. So our advice to the anti-vaxxers is to get vaccinated,” he said.
Dr Koh said it should be noted that while Covid-19 cases had dipped significantly, there were still patients hospitalised for category three, four and five Covid-19.
“The majority of these cases are unvaccinated individuals,” he added.
He said MMA agreed that additional measures on top of the standard operating procedures (SOPs) such as frequent testing would be needed for unvaccinated individuals reporting to work.
“Though it may be an inconvenience to them, it will serve to protect them, their loved ones and colleagues. But the best protection available which they can give themselves is vaccination.
“Sufficient time has been given to educate the public on the benefits of vaccines with more than enough evidence available and yet less than 10 per cent of the population still refuse vaccination,” he added.
He said MMA also recommended that aside from educating the public on vaccines, counselling services be offered to those fearing vaccination as fear was a major factor contributing to vaccine hesitancy.
“The government needs to drive the awareness of the need to get vaccinated in order to protect oneself and others around them.
“Malaysia has progressed to phase three and four of the National Recovery Plan (NRP) due to only one reason and that is vaccination,” he said. — Bernama