PEOPLE may have to get a Covid-19 booster shot to be considered fully vaccinated.
Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said this was one of several options he was looking at if the uptake of booster shots remained low and to prevent a fresh wave of infections in the country.
"I cannot discount any possibility. I need to leave every eventuality on the table.
"The first way (to improve booster shots uptake rates) is to persuade, encourage and plead. This is the approach that we are taking for now.
"Second, we can make booster shots a condition, meaning that you would not be considered fully vaccinated unless you get a booster dose.
"That's Plan B," he said in a special interview with the New Straits Times Press yesterday.
Earlier this month, Khairy said about 40 per cent of people who received booster shot appointments failed to show up.
He warned that the number of hospitalisations would increase if the trend continued.
He hoped people who received booster shot appointments would go get their jabs as data had shown that immunity against Covid-19 waned over time.
"The booster dose is very important, especially for the elderly and those with comorbidities, who can suffer severe symptoms if they contract the virus.
"I hope with the booster dose most people will eventually be vaccinated against Covid-19 or have natural immunity and it can be like the common flu.
"But we don't know yet, especially with new variants. It can also be a yearly jab, like annual flu jabs, but I don't know yet... No one knows."
He said the nation's mobility had returned to pre-pandemic levels, but he warned against complacency.
He said this increased mobility was a cause for concern as the hospital bed utilisation rate nationwide had hovered above 50 per cent for the past two weeks.
"Our mobility (rate) has returned to pre-pandemic levels. People are moving (around) at the same rate as they have before March last year.
"And we have started to feel very, very complacent about Covid-19... If we continue this, then a fourth wave is inevitable."
Khairy said it was vital for Covid-19 transmission to be reduced as much as possible to prevent a surge in infections next month and to stave off a spike in hospitalisations that would strain the public healthcare system.
He said the Covid-19 National Immunisation Programme was a success, but some quarters now fell there was no longer a need to be vigilant.
"This perception is incorrect. We can see that hospitalisation rates have increased and the number of cases have remained on a horizontal trend for the past one or two weeks.
"It has not risen drastically, but the hospitalisation rate can be an early sign of something undesirable.
"If we don't act now, then there will be a wave of infections and an increase in hospitalisations."
He reminded the public to practise TRIIS — test, report, isolate, inform and seek — and continue to adhere to Covid-19 standard operating procedures (SOP).
Up to noon yesterday, the country recorded 4,885 new Covid-19 cases, bringing the overall tally to 2,591,486 cases.
Khairy said Malaysia, unlike some European countries, was not ready to do away with "basic" SOP, such as wearing face masks, to minimise Covid-19 transmission.
He said wearing face masks would reduce exposure to the virus, a fact backed by data and science.
He cited reports quoting top World Health Organisation officials that state Europe was the epicentre of the pandemic again.
"Countries such as Germany and Austria are facing a fresh Covid-19 wave that is quite huge, which emerged after many people have yet to get vaccinated and Covid-19 prevention measures, such as wearing face masks, have been cast aside.
"For Malaysia, our position at the moment is that we will not do away with the SOP."
Dr Hans Kluge, WHO director for the 53-country Europe region, was quoted as saying that rising Covid-19 cases was a "grave concern". He blamed the relaxation of public health measures for rising infections in Europe.
The warning from WHO came as Germany saw more than 37,000 new cases in a day early this month, while Austria became the first country in western Europe
to reimpose a full lockdown as Covid-19 infections surged.