IT is time the government considers a third Covid-19 vaccine dose for front-line healthcare workers because they are more exposed to the virus than people in other professions, three medical groups said.

The Federation of Private Medical Practitioners’ Associations (FPMPAM), the Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) and the Medical Practitioners Coalition Association of Malaysia (MPCAM) said that although many people have yet to receive even one dose, front-liners were in need of protection due to the nature of their work.

“Most of our front-line healthcare workers started their vaccination in February 2021. As such, they would now have had the vaccine for more than six months, when the antibody levels are expected to wane.

“With the additional threat of the more transmissible Delta variant, we request the national security council and the special committee on Covid-19 vaccine supply consider a third dose, and consequentially periodical booster doses, for our healthcare workers.”

The statement was signed by FPMPAM president Dr Steven Chow, MMA president Dr M Subramaniam and MPCAM president Dr Raj Kumar Maharajah.

Citing a study in Israel that began in December 2020, the three doctors said that vaccine protection against both infection and disease had dropped from greater than 90% in the early months of its programme to around 40% by late June 2021.

“(The study said) the decline could be due to the effects of the Delta variant,” they said.

They also noted Indonesia, where authorities have begun to give a third vaccine dose to healthcare workers following the deaths of hundreds of front-liners in the past two months.

“Many of them had been vaccinated but succumbed to the more contagious Delta variant,” they added.

They also noted other studies showing third doses of vaccines developed by Moderna, Pfizer–BioNTech, Oxford–AstraZeneca and Sinovac have prompted “a spike in levels of infection-blocking ‘neutralising’ antibodies, when administered several months after the second dose”.

“An ongoing UK trial will test various combinations of boosters, including using a different vaccine from the original inoculation.

“Preliminary studies of these ‘mix and match’ strategies suggest that they could lead to more robust immune responses, characterised by high levels of both antibodies and T-cells, which kill infected cells and support other antiviral responses,” they said.

Malaysia vaccinated 69.9% of its adult population as of September 7, while 88.9% of the adult population have had their first shot. – September 8, 2021.