KUALA LUMPUR: The government is studying the effectiveness of Covid-19 vaccines against the more transmissible virus variants to determine if there is a need to issue a subsequent third as booster dose of the vaccine, to ensure the vaccinated population stay protected.
Covid-19 National Immunisation Programme (NIP) coordinating minister Khairy Jamaluddin said the matter was discussed during the Special Committee on Covid-19 Vaccine Supply Access Guarantee (JKJAV) meeting on Thursday amid concerns surrounding the vaccines efficacy towards newer variants, namely Delta and Delta plus.
Khairy said the authorities would continue to look at all available data to evaluate matters concerning the duration of immunity or protection provided by the vaccines currently used in Malaysia, which currently include Pfizer-BioNTech, AstraZeneca and Sinovac.
"Developed nations have begun making arrangements to procure vaccine supplies to be used next year, as they have predicted the possibility of needing a third or booster shot, to ensure the vaccinated population remain protected against the original Covid virus and newer and more transmissible variants.
"Therefore, we are also studying the data in detail to enable us to come up with a more informed forecast for next year. This way, we can decide whether we need to start negotiations to procure the vaccines for next year.
"We need better data to determine the duration of the protection and answer questions such as how long it will last, if the immunity wanes (over time) and if it does, then at what point should we begin administering the third dose to vaccine recipients."
The Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation said this at a press conference here today, after reviewing the process of administering Covid-19 vaccine to pregnant mothers at the Malaysia International Trade and Exhibition Centre (MITEC) vaccination centre (PPV).
Khairy said the presence of the Delta and Delta plus variants, had particularly raised concerns over the possibility of a new wave of infections, which required the government to anticipate and prepare for the future.
"Delta variant causes more than 90 per cent of new Covid cases in the United Kingdom at the moment.
"Meanwhile, in Israel, which is one of the fastest countries to vaccinate the population, has re-imposed mask requirement for indoor premises, amid Covid spike and the Delta variant presence.
"It is imperative that we study the vaccine effectiveness against the Delta and Delta plus variants and determine if there is a need to give a third shot and if we do, decide on which vaccine to be administered for a booster shot."