PETALING JAYA: With Covid-19 variants now loose in the community, health experts say the immunisation rate has to exceed 50% for the country to see a reduction in cases and hospitalisation, even if six states are in Phase Two of the National Recovery Plan (NRP).

       Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia health economics, hospital and health management Prof Dr Sharifa Ezat Wan Puteh said in countries that had vaccinated at least 50% of their population, there was a higher chance to reduce virus transmission, hospital admissions and deaths.

       “This would be the United Kingdom, Israel and others, so Malaysia must aggressively aim to vaccinate 50% of its population as soon as possible,” she said when contacted yesterday.

       She added that with six states now in Phase Two, the Federal and the state governments need to be “agile and reactive”.

       “When in Phase Two, we are actually opening a lot of activities that involve social interactions and this may set a sense of false calmness among the public. This might lead to carelessness and taking things such as the standard operating procedure (SOP) for granted.

       “These states need to monitor the infectivity rate, number of new cases and positivity rate intensely and not miss subtle things that may increase community transmission again.

       “At the same time, vaccinations need to continue at full speed,” she added.

       Currently, under the four-phase NRP, six states have shifted from Phase One to the more relaxed Phase Two. They are Kelantan, Pahang, Perak, Terengganu, Perlis and Penang.

       Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia epidemiologist Assoc Prof Dr Azmi Mohd Tamil agreed that countries where the immunisation rate has exceeded 50% of the population have seen a reduction in new cases and a drastic drop in the number of deaths.

       “Hopefully, this will be the same for Malaysia after we achieve the same rate of coverage or better,” he said.

       In an effort to transition to Phase Two of the NRP, Dr Azmi said the states still in Phase One were actively participating in and facilitating the vaccination process to achieve the necessary immunisation rate in order to qualify for the next phase and begin to open up the economy.

       “This carrot-and-stick approach, if embraced by the population of these states, will increase support for vaccinations.

       “Everyone wants their states to qualify for the next phase and loosen movement restrictions,” he added.

       Universiti Malaya virologist Prof Dr Sazaly Abu Bakar said Covid-19 vaccinations would only help to bring down the number of those contracting a severe infection, but would not necessarily reduce the number of infections as seen in many other countries with high vaccination rates.

       As such, he said vaccinations for those above the age of 50 should be carried out immediately.

       “All vaccines in use in Malaysia now require two doses at least three weeks apart and it will take another two weeks after the second dose before the vaccine is effective.

       “So, if you get your vaccination today, you will hopefully be fully protected against severe Covid-19 only in early August,” he said.

       He suggested the government also start looking into booster immunisation vaccines now as they might be needed by November due to the reduced efficacy rates in light of the new variants.

       The World Health Organisation (WHO) has listed the Alpha (United Kingdom), Beta (South Africa), Gamma (Brazil), and Delta (India) as variants of concern (VOC), while the variants of interest (VOI) are Eta (multiple countries), Iota (United States), Kappa (India), and Lambda (Peru).

       In Malaysia, the Delta and Beta variants have already been reported in the community.

       The Health Ministry has also recently raised concerns about the Lambda variant that is said to be more infectious than the Delta variant.

       Reuters reported that Pfizer-BioNTech plans to seek US and European regulatory approval for a third booster shot amid the spread of variants as data from the pharmaceutical company showed that there was a heightened risk of infection six months after initial inoculation.

       Dr Azmi and Dr Sharifa said the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was currently effective against the Delta, Alpha and Beta variants, citing research publications.