KUALA LUMPUR: The government is reviewing the Covid-19 restrictions for fully-vaccinated people.
Covid-19 National Immunisation Programme (NIP) coordinating minister Khairy Jamaluddin said a technical working group, comprising health and science experts under the Special Committee on Covid-19 Vaccine Supply Access Guarantee (JKJAV) is in the midst of reviewing the matter.
"This (the possibility of easing restrictions and reviewing public health recommendations for fully vaccinated people) will be studied from a clinical aspect, taking into consideration data obtained from other countries.
"We need to determine the thresholds where we would be able to ease certain restrictions, whether it should be 30 or 40 per cent.
"In the United States, for example, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued a guideline for fully vaccinated people," he said during a special joint press conference with Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz on the National Recovery Plan.
Under the CDC's guideline, fully vaccinated people can, among others, resume activities without wearing masks or physically distancing, except where required by federal, state, local, tribal, or territorial laws, rules and regulations, including local business and workplace guidance
Khairy, who is also Science, Technology and Innovation Minister, said these details have to be fine-tuned before making an announcement.
"The technical working group will make certain recommendations to JKJAV, who will then present it to the National Security Council.
"Any decision will be announced in due time pertaining to the SOP relaxation and whether interstate travel will be allowed for those who have completed both their vaccinations."
On if the Covid-19 pandemic will become endemic to Malaysia which might call for booster shots the following year, Khairy said this matter is under observation as certain concerns remain unknown.
"We have to look at the presence of variants of concern in Malaysia. Secondly, we need to continue with our whole-genome sequencing (WGS) and serological test to determine how effective a vaccine that has been inoculated is.
"Hence, we will continue the test to ensure that the neutralising antibodies are still present in people who have been vaccinated months ago. If we see a drop in the neutralising antibodies, then we may have to decide on having a third booster shot for these people."
Meanwhile, on the Sputnik V vaccine, Khairy said Malaysia is still awaiting more data, especially concerning the vaccine's stability.
However, he said, the NPRA and health ministry had notified that if WHO validates the vaccine for emergency use, then Malaysia would also approve it.