PETALING JAYA: Amid anxiety over the Omicron variant, a shorter interval for Covid-19 booster shots will be announced next week, says Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin.

       This will see the period between the second dose and third dose of the Covid-19 vaccine being shortened, he said, adding that until Saturday, 62 Omicron cases had been detected in the country.

       “We will announce this (the new interval) next week after finalising details,” he told a press conference on Saturday.

       Currently, 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 advised to get a third dose 180 days after the second dose.

       The move to shorten the interval is similar to measures taken by other countries such as Germany and Australia, which are recommending shorter booster intervals in an attempt to stop the spread of new variants.

       Following the discovery of the Omicron strain in a man in Sarawak who had no history of recent travel abroad, Khairy said it was very likely that it was now in the community.

       He said the suspected local infection was reported in Sarawak on Dec 24 involving a 38-year-old Chinese national who has been working at an engineering company in the state for three years and had no history of travelling abroad during those years.

       He added that the Health Ministry and the Institute for Medical Research (IMR) conducted PCR genotyping assay tests on 145 Covid-19 positive case samples among travellers from Dec 15 to 21.

       Out of the 145 samples, 60 indicated probability of being the Omicron variant, and on Dec 24, 45 out of those 60 samples were confirmed to be Omicron.

       Separately, the Institute of Health and Community Medicine at Universiti Malaysia Sarawak also detected another four cases of Omicron.

       “Out of the total 49 new cases, 30 were imported infections from Saudi Arabia which occurred among travellers who returned to Malaysia after performing the umrah.

       “A large number of them did not adhere to home quarantine regulations.

       “They did not isolate themselves from other family members living in the same house and also accepted guests during the quarantine period,” said Khairy.

       He advised those travelling overseas, especially to Saudi Arabia, to get their booster shot.