PEOPLE can still get infected with Covid-19 even after being fully vaccinated, Khairy Jamaluddin said, while setting the record straight on news of health workers contracting the virus after being immunised.

“Yesterday, the whole Malaysia was in chaos following Health Director-General Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah’s statement on 40 healthcare workers on the frontlines being infected with Covid-19 after being vaccinated,” he said.

“Anti vaxxers were going all out on social media, saying that this proves that the Covid-19 vaccine is similar to injecting plain water into the body.”

He said netizens started circulating the news without properly understanding the context and simply by reading the headline.

In setting the record straight, the coordinating minister for the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme said 31 out of the 40 front liners who contracted the virus had not completed two doses.

He further clarified that the immune system will only be prepared to fight the virus in about two weeks after the second dose. It is only then the person can be considered fully vaccinated, he said.

“Even (if we are) fully vaccinated, it does not mean that we cannot be infected. Although the vaccine reduces the probability of infection, it can still happen,” he said in a Facebook post.

Khairy added that a fully vaccinated individual will not suffer from severe symptoms such as breathing difficulties and even death, if they are infected with Covid-19.

“That is why the nine health workers who (were) positive after receiving two doses did not experience severe symptoms or any symptoms at all,” he said.

He once again reiterated that the Covid-19 vaccine is safe and effective.

Noor Hisham said yesterday that 40 health workers were infected after the receiving the second dose.

“Forty of our healthcare workers have been infected after the 2nd dose (last dose) of vaccination,” he said.

Nine cases were infected more than two weeks after the second dose and 31 cases were infected less than two weeks of second dose of inoculation,” he added.

He said 142 healthcare workers were infected after receiving the first dose but they experienced “less severe” symptoms.

“Completion of vaccination for immunity response is two weeks after the last dose or second dose,” he said.

“It is clear that we can still be infected after complete vaccination but perhaps with less severity,” he said.

Noor Hisham said although the shots offer hope of an end to the Covid-19 crisis, public health measures must be maintained even after vaccination.

“No one is safe until everyone is safe. Please continue to comply with all the precautionary public health measures,” he said. – April 18, 2021.