THE Covid-19 booster shot interval has been shortened to three months for fully vaccinated folk, announced the health minister today.

Khairy Jamaluddin said administration of boosters will go by age de-escalation – starting from seniors aged 60 and above, followed by above-50s, above-40s and so on.

Individuals with comorbidities, and residents and staff at long-term healthcare centres will also be prioritised, he added.

The Health Ministry made the move after health experts and regulatory bodies in Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom, among others, came up with the same conclusion.

Khairy said preliminary studies show that boosters are effective against Omicron.

“All adults receiving all types of vaccines (different brands) are recommended to get their boosters at least three months after receiving their primary vaccines.”

Prior to the announcement, the booster shot interval for CoronaVac recipients has already been set to three months, but Pfizer and AstraZeneca recipients had to wait for six months.

Khairy said Sarawak – the state that has administered the most boosters – is seeing a decline in Covid-19 cases in the past two months.

“Sarawak is also seeing a dip in Covid-19 deaths, from 497 cases in October to 24 cases in December so far.”

Sarawak Health Department data shows that the state’s booster dose coverage is at 73.54% as of yesterday.

Khairy said there has been no increase in coronavirus cases following the state elections in Sarawak.

So far, 5.57 million (23.8%) adults have received boosters.

On Saturday, the Health Ministry said it has detected another 49 Omicron cases, bringing the total number of such cases to 62.

Of the 62 cases, 61 are imported, while one – detected in Sarawak – involves a patient with no recent travel history and is suspected to be from local transmission. – December 28, 2021.