SENIOR citizens are advised to take the Covid-19 booster shot before the Hari Raya Aidil Fitri celebrations next month.

Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said this precautionary measure was necessary as the number of Covid-19 cases is expected to increase during the Hari Raya celebrations, especially with more freedom under the endemic phase.

“Omicron variant is still a serious infection, especially for the elderly or those with chronic diseases or weak immune systems.

“For this Hari Raya, for the first time we are allowing people to ‘balik kampung’, so the risk of infection is high.

“We expect Covid-19 cases to increase during Raya, that’s why we ask senior citizens to get their booster doses,” he said at a press conference at Sultanah NurZahirah Hospital (HSNZ) in Terengganu today.

Khairy said his ministry was still not satisfied with the percentage of booster dose intake which only reached 70%  at this time.

“If possible, we want to reach 90% which we target in one or two months,” he said.

He said his ministry was prepared for the possibility of facing an increase of Covid-19 cases during Hari Raya.

He added that he had instructed health workers to go on their leaves on a scheduled basis.

Yesterday Malaysia recorded 9,673 new Covid-19 cases, bringing the total in the country to 4,372,697 cases. – April 16, 2022.