PETALING JAYA: Ahead of the February deadline for all aged 60 and above as well as all adult recipients of Sinovac to complete their Covid-19 booster jabs, Malaysians have been assured that the vaccine is of great benefit and that vaccination centres (PPV) will be able to handle the workload.

       ProtectHealth Corp Sdn Bhd, which was mandated by the Health Ministry to oversee the vaccination programme via private medical practitioners during the earlier period of the Covid-19 pandemic, advised people to increase the booster take-up rate.

       Its chief executive officer Datuk Dr Anas Alam Faizli said the capacity utilisation at its PPV was only at 60% now.

       “We don’t want our public healthcare system to be tested again and the booster dose rollout is a great programme by the government for the people to obtain maximum protection against Covid-19.

       “We are capable of carrying out the programme and the people should take their jabs. Based on our capacity projection, we can handle the rollout until the end of January,” he said, adding that mega PPV that would soon reopen in the Klang Valley as announced by Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin on Thursday would also help accelerate the booster rollout.

       Dr Anas said those who were eligible for the booster dose but had yet to receive an appointment could find a PPV on the ProtectHealth’s website, contact it and register in the back-up list.

       Khairy had said all Malaysians aged 60 and above and all adult recipients of the Sinovac vaccine were required to get a booster dose by February, or risk losing their fully vaccinated status.

       All other adults who have completed their two primary shots from other vaccines such as Pfizer or AstraZeneca are also eligible for boosters and encouraged to get them, with registrations opened since November.

       Those who received the Sinovac vaccine are to get their booster shots 90 days after being fully vaccinated while for Pfizer and AstraZeneca recipients, they are recommended to get a third dose 180 days after the second dose.

       Association of Private Hospitals Malaysia (APHM) president Datuk Dr Kuljit Singh said there had been concerns over the relatively slow booster rollout as there were those who did not turn up for their appointment while at the same time, private hospitals were also seeing a rise in Categories Three and Five Covid-19 patients.

       “We urge the public to get their booster shots at the specific private hospitals as listed in the MySejahtera app.

       “Private hospitals have seen a recent increase in admissions to intensive care units and normal wards with Categories Three and Five patients although the number of admissions is not as alarming as it was several months ago.

       “However, the guidelines from the Health Ministry and information from international bodies must be adhered to as the possibility of another big wave of patients is there.

       “We have to be extremely cautious with the Omicron variant,” he said, adding that APHM would assist the government to enhance the booster vaccination programme.

       Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) president Dr Koh Kar Chai said regardless of the type of vaccine, those eligible were encouraged to get their booster shots to receive maximum protection against Covid-19.

       “We believe the Health Minister has valid concerns as the protective effect of vaccines will wane over time and may not offer enough protection against new variants such as the highly transmissible Omicron variant.

       “However, MMA has stated before that there is booster hesitancy due to fears of receiving heterologous vaccination.

       “To overcome this, the government needs to increase awareness of heterologous vaccination safety through the sharing of evidence recognised by leading health authorities,” he said.

       Meanwhile, mega PPV are ready to reopen to support the government’s booster vaccination drive.

       World Trade Centre Kuala Lumpur group executive director Datuk Seri Dr Irmohizam Ibrahim said WTCKL was willing to assist the government by reopening as a mega PPV in the Klang Valley, adding that it was waiting for approval from the Health Ministry.

       “Coming back as a PPV is one of the ways that we want to show the people and government that we are ready to assist again, as we did during the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme when we gave out more than a million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine,” he said.