Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin speaks during press conference today. – Bernama photo
PUTRAJAYA (Sept 9): The Health Ministry is looking into what is causing the rising number of Covid-19 cases and hospitalisations in Sarawak despite the high vaccine coverage there.
According to Malaysiakini, Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin during a press conference here today said they were unsure what had caused this, but he had requested for a more detailed analysis.
One possibility being considered was that the effectiveness of the vaccines are starting to wane over time, he added.
In addition, he said a technical committee on vaccine selection has been asked to provide recommendations on booster shots for the Special Committee for Ensuring Access to Covid-19 Vaccine Supply’s (JKJAV) next meeting, which will be held next week.
After the JKJAV meeting, Khairy said he will travel to Sarawak to discuss additional measures to contain the outbreak with the state government.
“But of course, in terms of testing, tracing, and isolation, it will be very important in Sarawak right now because what is happening in Sarawak could possibly happen in other states in a few months time, if it is because of the waning effect of the vaccine.
“So, we have to see what are the immediate measures we can do to stop the increased rate of transmission in Sarawak, and use that as a playbook for other states which may encounter a similar situation,” he said.
To date, 63.7 per cent of Sarawak’s population have been fully vaccinated, which is the third-highest in Malaysia after the Klang Valley (72.0 per cent) and Labuan (65.8 per cent).
Nevertheless, Covid-19 cases and subsequent hospitalisation in the state have been rising since mid-August, though Covid-19 deaths remained in the single-digits and comprised mainly of unvaccinated people.
Today, Sarawak recorded 3,118 new cases, the highest in the country followed by Selangor with 2,700 cases and Sabah with 2,298 cases.
Previously, other countries that achieved high vaccination rates, such as Israel, have reported resurgent Covid-19 cases.
It is unclear whether this was due to waning immunity, reopening of the economy, the arrival of the highly transmissible Delta variant, or some combination of these factors as current studies are unable to tease apart these confounding factors that often coincide.
While antibody levels certainly do wane after six months or more, this does not necessarily mean a drop in vaccine protection especially against severe cases.
This is due to the presence of other vaccine-induced immune responses that are longer-lasting than antibodies but only kick-in during later phases of a person’s infection.
Meanwhile, Khairy said these factors that may be behind surges in other countries could now be playing out in Sarawak.
Those countries have started administering booster shots especially to the elderly, immunocompromised people, and healthcare workers.
He said Malaysia has not ruled out the possibility of following suit.
“But again, I’ve asked for a more granular analysis on this. We will be able to announce something when I head over to Sarawak,” he added. – Malaysiakini