MP calls for beefed-up genetic monitoring to track Omicron variant

 

Bandar Kuching MP Dr Kelvin Yii has called for increased genomic surveillance on Covid-19 in response to the emergence of the Omicron variant of concern.

He said the Parliamentary Special Select Committee on Health, Science and Innovation was briefed on the matter by Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin and top ministry officials yesterday, and found Malaysia’s situation to be “downright abysmal”.

Yii (above) said Malaysia has only sequenced 0.1 percent of its Covid-19 cases in the last two weeks, compared with as high as 50 percent sequencing done in Denmark.

“Furthermore, we are also behind our neighbouring countries such as Indonesia, Thailand and Cambodia, and also other countries such as Mexico, Pakistan, India, Colombia and Brazil in doing genomic sequencing.

“This is such a crucial metric in order to really have proper surveillance if any of the prevalence of such variants is currently in our midst.

“The number of countries around the world that are reporting on a daily basis the new discovery of such variants is increasing and thus it is naive to think it will not reach our shores or affect us.

“That is why the government must focus all resources to increase genomic surveillance in our country, especially at entry ports and even on past positive cases throughout the nation in order to better understand the prevalence of the virus in the country,” Yii said in a statement last night.

He said this is crucial for taking proactive measures against the Omicron variant and avoiding a surge in cases that could overwhelm Malaysia’s healthcare system.

'Not enough genomic sequencing was done on the Omicron variant'

Yii, who is also chairperson of the parliamentary special select committee, said that although only one case of the Omicron variant has been recorded in Malaysia, the country has not done enough genomic sequencing to conclude whether it has already breached Malaysia’s borders before this.

The Omicron variant was first reported by South African scientists on Nov 24, prompting many other countries, including Malaysia, to tighten border controls and re-test older Covid-19 samples based on data provided by South Africa.

This led to the identification of the first and only known Omicron variant case in Malaysia – a student from Sought Africa who entered Malaysia on Nov 19 and underwent home quarantine. She was tested upon arrival and got her positive test result the next day.

All her close contacts tested negative for the disease.

The Omicron variant is said to be more transmissible than the Delta variant; its severity and impact on vaccines are still being studied, but anecdotes suggest it may cause milder illness.

Meanwhile, Yii also urged the government to help expedite the rollout of Covid-19 vaccine booster shots.

He said that while some are turning down the booster shots due to hesitancy over heterologous vaccinations, a poorly executed rollout is also part of the problem.

“Many have turned up at vaccination centres (PPV) to receive their doses, but due to the lack of manpower and government assistance, many of these PPVs are often congested and many had no choice but to go back empty-handed as they end up not receiving the vaccine as intended.

“Such PPVs are only handled by the general practitioners (GPs) and volunteers right now, unlike the rollout of the first and second doses, which had resources from the Ministry of Health.

“That is why I urge the Ministry of Health to really step in and increase the capacity to fasten the rollout process of the Covid-19 vaccine booster doses, especially in view of the Omicron threat.

“Currently, there are only about 1,500 GPs involved out of more than the 7,000 GPs registered. That is why more can be done to incentivise even more GPs to be part of the rollout as well as set up more PPVs assisted by the Ministry of Health, just like how it was done before for the first two doses,” he said.

Previously, in response to Omicron’s emergence, Khairy had said the Health Ministry will accelerate the rollout of booster shots from 120,000 doses per day to 150,000 per day, and eventually hit 200,000 per day.

However, he did not provide a timeframe for reaching that goal. - Mkini