WHILE vaccines are not 100% effective in preventing Covid-19 infections, they do reduce the severity of symptoms, said, Dr Lo Ying-Ru Jacqueline.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) representative to Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore said infection was possible even after vaccination.

“That is why we are recommending you to adhere to individual measures. You still have to protect yourself with a mask and physical distance even after being vaccinated but the likelihood of you getting very ill is much less,” she told The Malaysian Insight.

“You can get an infection even when you are vaccinated. We don’t know for how long the vaccines work. It is a new pandemic, so we have 1 1/2 years of the pandemic. The observation is 8-10 months.

“There are many studies now to look at the duration and the effectiveness of the vaccines.”

She also said that there was a need to speed up the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (NIP) so that more people are given their jabs.

She noted that the delays could be due to the supply chain issue, which is a global problem and not unique to Malaysia alone.

Nevertheless, she said, the progress has been swift as the Coid-19 vaccines are now available after about one and half years into the pandemic.

It usually takes decades for vaccines to be developed and brought into the market, she added.

“And it takes decades to get the whole population vaccinated,” she said, adding that previously only childhood vaccination programmes had had such a reach.

“We always have to see that in the context of limited global supply and a new programme that has never existed before,” she added.

She also noted that production was being ramped up and Malaysia has managed to secure supplies for at least 80% of its adult population and more.

She said it was important to increase the coverage of the vaccination as soon as possible to protect people from hospitalisation and dying.

Dr Lo also said the national vaccination programme will pick up after the supplies come in.

However, that will also depend on the take up rate among people.

“Just having the vaccine in the freezer will not help,” she said while encouraging people to sign up for vaccination.

The latest numbers as of May 28 showed that 73,776 individuals had received their Covid-19 vaccinations – 46,446 with first dose and 27,330 with second dose.

The total number of people vaccinated is 2,786,152. Of these, 1,771,810 have received their first dose while 1,014,342 their second dose.

More than 11 million people have signed up for the shots. – May 31, 2021.
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