PETALING JAYA: Malaysia needs to look into securing booster doses for the future, say health experts, although they maintain that the current focus should still be on the unvaccinated.

       Many countries have already started to stock up supplies for booster shots, leading the World Health Organisation (WHO) to express concerns that such a move would further worsen vaccine inequity.

       Universiti Malaya epidemiologist Prof Datuk Dr Awang Bulgiba Awang Mahmud said Malaysia should start making preparations to procure booster shots.

       “We are likely to face supply issues when we decide to give booster doses (in the future) if we do not act to secure supplies now.

       “Malaysia has secured enough supplies for the entire population, but it will need more doses if we were to give boosters,” he said.

       He noted that several countries have already unveiled plans for booster shots for certain segments of the population.

       “Their criteria are based on emerging evidence about which groups are more vulnerable and need to be protected first,” he added.

       For instance, the United Kingdom is likely to offer third vaccine doses to vulnerable groups starting September, though it is still waiting for recommendations from an independent health advisory body.

       Austria is offering booster doses to care home residents and those with certain illnesses, while Belgium and Luxembourg plan to give boosters to the immunocompromised.

       Dr Awang Bulgiba, however, stressed that even as preparations are made to obtain booster doses, Malaysia should still remain laser-focused on administering jabs for the unvaccinated.

       “One very important group that is being missed, especially in the Klang Valley, are the undocumented migrants,” he said.

       He added that the decision to set up surveillance on vaccine recipients is a good one in order to collect valuable data on how long the immunity from vaccines can last.

       “We can also study whether the heterologous prime-boost approach will result in a better immune response,” he said, adding that this will be especially important for single-dose vaccines such as CanSino and Johnson and Johnson.

       (Heterologous vaccination refers to the administration of a different vaccine as a booster shot.)

       Dr Awang Bulgiba also noted that the global scramble for booster shots may potentially worsen vaccine inequity issues worldwide.

       While some countries have been racing to secure booster jabs, the WHO has urged for a “moratorium” on booster shots until at least the end of September.

       “I understand the concern of all governments to protect their people from the Delta variant, but we cannot accept countries that have already used most of the global supply of the vaccines using even more of it,” WHO head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in early August.

       Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah also said that the country’s vaccination rates must increase before booster doses can be considered.

       Vaccine shortages have been reported in a few states in the country such as Sabah, Penang, Johor and Negri Sembilan, though the authorities have not made clear the reasons behind such incidents.

       Universiti Putra Malaysia medical epidemiologist Assoc Prof Dr Malina Osman said the shortages in several Malaysian states could be due to increasingly limited vaccine supplies around the world.

       While she believes that countries should heed WHO’s advice to halt procuring booster doses for a period of time, Malaysia could in the meantime make preparations for booster shots in the future, she added.

       “Local studies of our own population should be conducted so that we have baseline figures to support the need for boosters.

       “It would also be wise if we can start securing supplies of booster shots.

       “However, as we are now struggling to achieve the 80% vaccination target, the priority now is to get all people susceptible to the virus vaccinated,” she said.

       When Malaysia does start securing supplies of booster shots, Dr Malina said that high-risk groups such as frontliners, the elderly and those with chronic diseases should be prioritised.

       Association of Private Hospitals Malaysia (APHM) president Datuk Dr Kuljit Singh has urged the Special Committee on Covid-19 Vaccine Supply (JKJAV) to start planning on the provision of booster jabs for medical staff.

       “APHM would like to propose to JKJAV that it would be important to start planning booster Covid-19 vaccine doses for public and private healthcare workers as soon as we reach a reasonable percentage of fully vaccinated population.

       “The government should now initiate discussions with the private healthcare stakeholders to work out mechanisms in getting the booster doses rolled out once formal approvals are obtained from the regulatory authorities,” he said.