COVID-19 | Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin has once again encouraged the public to take the Covid-19 booster vaccination jab, especially as serious infections were mostly occurring among the unboosted.
In a press conference this evening, he shared that those who were not vaccinated, not fully vaccinated, or not boosted made up 78.87 percent of new cases in Categories 3, 4, and 5.
Of the 194 Category 3 and above cases reported yesterday, 153 were unboosted individuals.
Khairy also shared graphs to show Covid-19 booster shots made a noticeable difference when it came to protection against severe infection and death.
Unvaccinated and fully vaccinated (but not boosted) individuals also made up a bulk of Covid-19 deaths.
This trend was especially significant among those aged 70 and above.
“We can see that the booster jab gives the best protection, especially among the elderly aged 70 and above,” said the minister.
Despite having more daily infections now than during the Delta wave, he shared that ICU admissions and deaths were down 80 to 90 percent compared to the peak of the Delta wave in August 2021.
Khairy attributed this trend to the Covid-19 vaccine and booster jabs.
“Vaccines have shown that they work very well in protecting individuals from more serious infections, especially among adults and the elderly who have received a booster shot and among teenagers who have been fully vaccinated with two shots.
“This is why we only see a slight increase in ICU admissions and deaths due to Covid-19,” he said.
Maeps reopened to free up hospitals
Besides giving quarantine exemptions to asymptomatic and boosted close contacts, the minister also announced another new strategy in the country’s Omicron response.
The Malaysia Agro Exposition Park Serdang (Maeps) will reopen tomorrow (Feb 25) as a low-risk treatment and quarantine centre (PKRC).
The 100-bed facility will be for low-risk Category 1 and 2 patients from the Klang Valley, with another 850 beds on standby.
It will also be used for step-down care as Covid-19 patients recover from their infection.
“This is not because we don’t have enough beds in our hospitals.
“But as a pre-emptive step and as a buffer so that our hospitals - that are now providing non-Covid care for elective cases which were delayed for two years - will not be affected or stopped as Covid-19 cases rise due to the Omicron wave,” Khairy explained.
The minister shared that the plan was to have Maeps open until the Omicron wave subsides.
Asked today about the recent uptick in brought-in-dead (BID) Covid-19 cases, Khairy said he will explain the matter in an upcoming press conference.
According to the Health Ministry’s Covid-19 dashboard CovidNow, BID cases have been on the rise since mid-February, hitting a peak of 17 on Feb 18.
BID cases spiked during the Delta wave, at one time reaching 118 in a day (Aug 10).
Malaysia has recorded 6,629 BID cases since the beginning of the pandemic.- Mkini
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