KOTA KINABALU: Sabah is making fresh calls to parents and the public to get their children and themselves vaccinated as it prepares to welcome international visitors come April 1.

       Minister in charge of Covid-19 matters in the state, Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun said that taking the booster shot was also necessary for adults for maximum protection against Covid-19.

       "When international borders and school reopens, there will be more people in this country, meaning the risk of getting the virus would be higher,” he said.

       However, there can be protection and risks minimised if vaccination and booster rates are high, he added.

       Masidi said there was no secret that more unvaccinated children between the ages of five and 11 were hospitalised due to Covid-19, while older people were also dying from the virus.

       He said weighing the side effects or risks versus benefits from getting vaccinated, it was obvious that the benefits outweigh the risks.

       He urged the public to think rationally when making decisions for their children, as well as themselves in terms of safety and health during this pandemic.

       Asked why there were so many deaths due to Covid-19 in Sabah as compared to other states in the country, Masidi repeated what Sabah director Datuk Dr Rose Nani Mudin had mentioned before, that lack of awareness and knowledge were among the main reasons.

       He felt that people trusted unverified information and viral social media news instead of official reports.

       He said many also chose to depend on traditional medicine, which could be unreliable, instead of seeking medical attention when they fall sick.

       Previously, it was reported that taking the virus lightly, not vaccinating against the virus, not responding quickly upon detection of having contracted Covid-19 or patients having comorbidity, were among reasons for the high number of Covid-19 related deaths in Sabah.

       Masidi also said that Sabah will most likely make adjustments to some of the new standard operating procedures expected to be laid out as the country reopens international borders on April 1.

       He said these changes, which will only be known or made after the federal government announces these new SOPs, were needed as Sabah’s border and other immigration matters were different.

       He said Sabah borders Indonesia and the Philippines and the vaccination status or procedures of these two nations were unclear, while there may be a lot of those who enter via sea routes.

       "Although one of the most important criteria for international visitors to enter Malaysia and Sabah, we do not know if those who come by boat are fully vaccinated," Masidi said.

       He however did not specify whether those coming in by boats were illegal immigrants.

       Meanwhile, Sabah recorded a slight decline in new Covid-19 cases - 1,154 cases, on Thursday.

       Masidi said sporadic cases continue to contribute the highest of the overall cases at around 60%.

       Only two districts - Kota Kinabalu and Papar - recorded three digit new numbers of 265 cases and 109 cases respectively.

       A total of 1,138 or over 98% of these new cases are Category 1 and 2, seven cases are under Category 3, five under Category 4 and four under Category 5.