A SPEEDIER vaccination exercise and aggressive targeted lockdowns are the best solutions in bringing down the number of Covid-19 cases to below 4,000 daily, said two health experts.

The vaccination exercise should be ramped up in states where the pandemic is at its worst, they said.

Former deputy health minister Dr Lee Boon Chye said the current vaccination programme appeared to slow down during the weekends.

“Speed up the vaccination. On Sunday the number was below 200,000. What is happening? Are we taking a break during weekends?

“Virus does not stop on weekends. We need to give more than 200,000 jabs daily,” said Lee.

The Gopeng MP said improvements will be seen if the vaccination exercise is consistent and done quickly.

The PKR lawmaker added the government must prioritise vaccine supplies in Selangor, Negri Sembilan, Sarawak and Kuala Lumpur.

“These states have a high population and the number of cases are high. Vaccine supplies must be enough.

“In Selangor it is not enough. Transmission is high in Selangor,” he said.

On Sunday, the number of vaccine doses administered under the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme dipped to 168,956, from 187,877 doses on Saturday.

Yesterday, the country saw an increase in the number of vaccines administered where a total of 197,274 shots were given.

Between June 1 and 25, Malaysia had administered more than 200,000 jabs daily. However, the target had not been met in recent days.

The Special Committee for Ensuring Access to Covid-19 Vaccine Supply the total number of vaccines administered as of yesterday has now increased to 7.59 million.

Of this figure, 2.13 million people or 6.5% of the population have received both doses while 5.46 million or 16.7% of the population have received their first dose.

Lee then said the government must also impose targeted movement-control orders (MCOs).

“If the workplace has a high number of cases then targeted MCO in the workplace must be enforced. If in a community, impose it within the community.

“The people are indoors but cases are still being recorded at factories and workers’ hostels. What is the point in having people stay indoors when the factories and hostels are creating new cases and clusters?

“If the government intends to keep the economy going, they have to ensure that factories and hostels abide by strict standard operating procedure (SOP),” he said.

Director-general of health Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said yesterday that more than half of the 17 Covid-19 clusters reported on Sunday were linked to workplaces.

The clusters were detected in factories and construction sites, among others.

Complete lockdown in affected areas

Universiti Putra Malaysia medical epidemiologist Assoc Prof Dr Malina Osman said a complete lockdown is needed at affected areas for at least two weeks to bring down the number of cases.

Malaysia was put in a lockdown on June 1. It will only be lifted when the number of daily cases goes down to below 4,000.

Malaysia today recorded 6,437 cases, taking the national caseload to 745,703. Another 107 deaths were reported in the last 24 hours, taking the number of fatalities to 5,108.

The number of active cases stands at 62,844 with 905 patients in intensive care units and 455 patients needing respiratory assistance.

“Available data have shown some of the clusters are from work settings and from the communities.

“Both work and community clusters are interrelated to each other. The best choice is to have a complete lockdown for at least two weeks in states that have recorded high cases,” she said.

Malina said Selangor and Kuala Lumpur are the two states with high positive cases but admitted it is hard to fully lock down both areas.

“I think we have no choice except to get their commitment to adhere to SOP and get the vaccines as soon as possible.

“We hope the current vaccination programme will be expedited further,” she added.

Malina felt that positive cases may go down in four to six weeks once the vaccination programme is in full swing.

“If we can have a total lockdown (close all sectors for two weeks) we can observe the declining pattern within two weeks.

“But because certain sectors that are potentially responsible for emerging new clusters everyday are opened, we need at least four to six weeks of total lockdown for the results to show,” she said.

Vaccination should prioritise economic sectors

Malaysian Medical Association’s (MMA) Professor Dr Subramaniam Muniandy echoed Lee and Malina’s view on vaccinations.

The MMA president said priority should now be given to those in the manufacturing, construction and services sectors.

“Vaccinations need to be increased. Those in the manufacturing, construction, services sectors should be prioritised as most clusters reported are from the workplaces and from these sectors,” he said.

He, however, said the government must also look at community screening to find and isolate asymptomatic and symptomatic cases of Covid-19 as early as possible.

“No one knows. At the moment, there seems to be little change to the number of new cases. This is an indication that community transmission is still high.”

“The true extent of community transmission can only be known if we screen the community,” he said. – June 29, 2021.