PUTRAJAYA: Mass vaccinations will not mean an overnight end to the Covid-19 pandemic or the new norms, says Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.
The Health director-general said the public should not expect things to go back to “normal”.
“At this point in time, we must not consider the Covid-19 vaccination as an ‘immunity passport’. With more people being vaccinated, things will change over a period of time. It will be evolving.
“But we will continue to evaluate the response towards the immunisation programme in the next few months.
“There will come a time when we can consider relaxing our Covid-19 prevention measures, but not at this point in time.
“So, we will have no choice but to continue complying with the new norms or Covid-19 standard operating procedures, ” said Dr Noor Hisham at a virtual engagement session with the media yesterday.
The National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme will kick off this Sunday when the first batch of more than 300,000 doses of Covid-19 vaccine arrives.
Dr Noor Hisham said the World Health Organisation (WHO) will have the biggest say on when SOP can be eased.
“Perhaps six months down the road, the WHO comes up with a new guideline or has new evidence that can allow travelling, for example.
“They will be the ones who will make the announcement.
“But at present, we need to live with the virus. So, keep putting that mask on, and practise the ‘3Cs and 3Ws’, ” he said.
The 3Cs refer to places and things people should avoid: crowded areas, confined spaces, and close conversations.
The 3Ws refer to the three things people should always practise: washing hands, wearing masks and heeding public health warnings.
Separately, Dr Noor Hisham also announced 2,712 more Covid-19 cases and 25 more deaths in the country yesterday.
It is the country’s highest number of fatalities in a single day.
A three-year-old girl with brain cancer at the Duchess of Kent Hospital in Sandakan is among the youngest to have died from Covid-19.
Out of the fatalities, 21 were Malaysians and four were foreigners.
There were 227 patients in intensive care units, with 103 requiring ventilator support.
The country also recorded 5,320 recoveries, bringing the number of those who have recovered from the disease to 235,082 cases.
The total number of active cases currently stands at 38,763 while the cumulative fatalities to date are 1,030 cases.
Dr Noor Hisham also said 17 new clusters have been uncovered, out of which 14 were workplace infections, while the remaining were high risk, religious and community clusters.- The Star