THE past year has been a terrible time for frontliners. Working sometimes 24/7, many are on the brink of physical and mental breakdowns.
To compound the problem, the Covid-19 virus gets the better of us. This is more evident in Sultan Abdul Halim Hospital, Sungai Petani in Kedah. Some 30 doctors recently contracted the virus, bringing the medical facility to a near standstill.
The surge in cases saw all its beds taken up, leaving the hospital to desperately accommodate emergency patients in makeshift quarters. Admissions to the intensive care unit, too, have been rising.
As is their wont, Malaysians have rallied to help this hospital, and others in a similar predicament, with donations in cash and kind.
The travails of the hospital are emblematic of the situation in other hospitals, varying only in the degree of severity, throughout the country. Malaysia is in the throes of an infection that is six times more lethal than the spike in January. Bodies are piling up in mortuaries, slowing down their release or disposal, much to the grief of loved ones.
We shall continue to suffer surges until we achieve herd immunity where 80 per cent of the adult population is vaccinated. Just when we are about to rein in the crisis, another battle looms large. It is against the deadliest and easily transmissible mutation of SARS-CoV-2 (the virus which causes Covid-19).
Research in England suggests that the Delta variant is doubly infectious than the original strain. Spotted in India in February, it has decimated a million lives there.
It has spread to some 80 countries. In Bangladesh, Indonesia, Britain and Russia, Delta accounts for about 85 per cent of all strains. It is also spreading fast in the United States. So much so, Britain and the US have declared the variant as their greatest threat.
Our borders with India are closed. Hence, only a minuscule number of the 17,000-odd daily cases is of the Delta variety. But we must remain vigilant. Although Delta lowers protection from vaccination by 10 per cent, that protection increases over time, attesting to the fact that vaccination is the best defence against infection.
The ultra-infectious variant might put paid to our accelerated pace of vaccination. After trailing behind for some time, our daily vaccination rate is among the highest in the world. At over 400,000 a day, we should achieve herd immunity by year end. Otherwise, it would be only a matter of time that we succumb to another more virulent and, worse, vaccine-resistant mutant.
The requirement for herd immunity reinforces the central importance that people should get vaccinated fast and not be choosy about which vaccine. Even though vaccinations may lead the government to relax its restrictions, we should continue to practise regular washing of hands.
We must keep a physical distance of at least a metre from one another, wear preferably double face masks, and avoid crowded places.
To ensure better treatment of this scourge, it behoves that we care for our frontliners as they battle on our behalf. As Delta accounts for 90 per cent of new cases in Britain, European countries and Hong Kong have stiffened curbs on travellers from Britain. Malaysia should do likewise.
Worryingly, but understandably, the variant is "efflorescing" in countries where only a tiny percentage of the population has been inoculated.
Decelerating sharply global infections would narrow the chances for the emergence of new mutations.
The only way to do that is to ensure poorer countries vaccinate their populations fast.
For example, less than three per cent of those above 12 years old has been jabbed in sub-Saharan Africa, and that too with only one dose.
So once Malaysia achieves herd immunity, and just as it has benefited from the largesse of other countries, it will have a moral obligation to help poorer countries inoculate their populations. It is also in our self-interest to do so.
The writer is AIMST University's vice-chancellor
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of the New Straits Times