PUTRAJAYA should continue its advocacy among groups that are hesitant to take up the Covid-19 vaccine before deciding to make it mandatory, health experts said.

While the soft approach of educating and disseminating proper information on the vaccine have been ongoing since the start of the national immunisation programme in February, they said there may have been groups that have fallen through the cracks.

Others, meanwhile, said that it is high time the federal government made the vaccines mandatory in order to ensure the safety of the population, while ensuring that those who are unvaccinated do not burden the healthcare system when they get infected.

Universiti Putra Malaysia virologist Dr Chee Hui Yee said the government needs to investigate the reasons behind vaccine hesitancy and initiate a dialogue with these individuals to convince them that the vaccine is safe.

“We need to investigate the root cause and have dialogue with them, show your concern to them, provide evidence-based data to clear their worries and then convince them,” she told The Malaysian Insight.

“We need to ask the ‘five Ws’: who by identifying the people, what are their concerns, when is the right time to talk to them with convincing data, where are they getting their scientific data and why is it they are hesitant to take the vaccine.”

Chee said for the most part, it is not the safety of the vaccine that makes people hesitant but rather the process of getting it might be cumbersome.

“Lack of access to vaccination, proper information, professional suggestion; lengthy registration process, complications in registration; vaccination centres not conducive and long wait may contribute to this, too,” she said, adding that wait time has significantly improved compared to the earlier phases of the immunisation programme.

Currently, there is no vaccine mandate in Malaysia that makes it compulsory for all residents to get inoculated with the Covid-19 vaccine.

So far, Covid-19 vaccines have only been made compulsory for those in civil service, with exceptions made for those who cannot take it due to health reasons.

The Public Service Department said this decision was made to boost public confidence and ensure that government services can be delivered smoothly.

Nearly 98% out of 1.6 million civil servants have been vaccinated, while 16,902 or 1.6% have yet to register for the vaccine.

As for the rest of the population, Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said the government will “make life difficult” for those who refuse to get vaccinated.

Only fully vaccinated individuals – 14 days after the second dose for two-dose vaccines and 28 days for one-dose vaccines – are allowed to dine in at eateries, travel interstate and go on holidays; these are among the concessions given to the people to encourage vaccination take-up.

Besides making life difficult by reducing access to certain areas, Khairy said there is a possibility that those who refuse the vaccines will be made to undergo regular tests that they will have to pay for.

He has come under criticism by lawmakers such as PKR president Anwar Ibrahim who said his approach is unacceptable.

The National Union of Bank Employees (NUBE), meanwhile, called Khairy a bully for his heavy-handed approach.

Changing tune after getting infected

Dr Kuljit Singh, a specialist at Prince Court Medical Centre, said it is time that anti-vaxxers themselves take responsibility for understanding the complexity of the virus.

“The government has tried and many non-government agencies, private hospitals and a lot of other expert groups have taken the soft approach by explaining to the public, especially the anti-vaxxers, the advantages of the vaccine. This process has been ongoing from the day we started vaccination in February.

“Whatever knowledge the anti-vaxxers are getting may not address this issue. Nobody knows the side effects of a lot of things, such as the food that we are eating, which are full of preservatives.

“This one vaccine has been influenced by people in the international media giving information which is one-sided. We will try to make them understand, but it is up to the government later if they want to come up with a firmer stance (such as a vaccine mandate).”

Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) president Dr Koh Kar Chai said it is best for anti-vaxxers to get inoculated instead of learning the hard way by getting infected or seeing a loved one become a victim of Covid-19.

“As doctors, we have seen anti-vaxxer patients change their tune about vaccines when a family member or they themselves are infected with Covid-19. Often we see that when a family member dies from Covid-19, all of a sudden the vaccine becomes important to the surviving family members.

“So our advice to anti-vaxxers is to get vaccinated before they or a loved one becomes Covid-19’s next victim,” he said in a statement.

Koh also agreed with Khairy’s suggestion of frequent testing among this group, not to inconvenience them, but to protect those around them.

Make it mandatory now

Malaysian Public Health Physicians’ Association president Dr Zainal Ariffin Omar said it is high time that the government put its foot down and made Covid-19 vaccines mandatory for all as it has done enough to educate the public.

“There is a strong case for making the vaccine mandatory because Covid-19 is a threat to public health globally and the vaccine is safe. It also has a superior cost and benefit compared to other alternatives.”

He added that the current approach where a small group of people have been ostracised for taking part in certain actives due to their vaccination status might also create unnecessary discrimination and hatred between anti-vaxxers and pro-vaccine groups.

“If the government chooses for ‘total protection’, to reduce the country’s social and financial burden of Covid-19 patients, preventing further epidemics, we should opt for mandatory protection. And the rakyat is ready for that.”

To date, 69.7% of the general population in Malaysia is now fully vaccinated against the coronavirus while 2.44 million people are partially vaccinated and 7.57 million remain unvaccinated.

Malaysia is aiming to fully inoculate 80% of the population by December 6.

As for the adult population, 93.8% or 21.96 million people have completed their Covid-19 vaccination while 784,399 have yet to complete their vaccination course.

Meanwhile, 25.6% or 806,330 adolescents have received two shots of the Covid-19 vaccine while 1.65 million or 52.6% have received one dose since the vaccination programme began on September 8. – October 20, 2021.