Kuala Lumpur: Malaysia is taking prudent steps before it decides to declare the country’s transition from a Covid-19 pandemic to the endemic phase, health minister Khairy Jamaluddin said today.
He said other countries such as Sweden and Denmark “might have declared an end to the Covid-19 pandemic too early”. He added that “for us, it is better to be safe than sorry”.
Speaking to reporters after a ministry event at Selayang hospital, Khairy said the careful approach to pandemic management included ensuring that Covid-19 cases in Malaysia, especially those involving hospital admissions, did not continue to surge.
“In Denmark they declared that Covid-19 was not a threat to public health but hospitalisation cases increased rapidly. That’s why, for the health director-general (Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah) and I, we prefer to be cautious.
“Some say our approach is conservative and others say too conservative, but for us it is better to be safe than sorry,” he said.
If the Omicron wave has little effect on hospital admission rates in the next two to three weeks, with most cases showing mild symptoms, the government might be more confident to move to the endemic phase, he added.
Khairy said although the health ministry was not panicking over the spread of Omicron, various public health interventions such as the wearing of masks should be continued, to protect high-risk groups such as senior citizens, people with comorbidities and children, from the serious effects of various Covid-19 variants.
Khairy also urged hospitals to administer “opportunistic vaccination” to increase the take-up rate for the Covid-19 booster dose.
“The reluctance to get the booster shot is still high now. If they come to hospital and the like, they have trust in the doctor. So, you can ask them whether they have received the booster dose, check if they have a history of allergies and convince them to take the booster because I want our booster dose coverage to exceed 70% of adults before we can feel comfortable in facing Omicron,” he said.
Khairy said he was appealing to the people to take the booster jab to ensure they continue to enjoy an effective level of protection against the virus.
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