KUALA LUMPUR: The government has allayed fears over the possibility of being infected by Covid-19 even after completing both rounds of vaccination.
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Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said data showed that the Covid-19 infectivity rate among frontliners who have been fully vaccinated stands at merely 0.003 per cent.
This, he said, was based on 227,019 recipients who have received two doses and nine who tested positive for the virus.
“This works out to 0.003 per cent of medical frontliners who had completed their vaccination and tested positive. From what I know, out of nine cases, none had severe or even mild symptoms.
“This means the vaccine works. If there is a 0.003 per cent infection rate for those who receive two full doses, you can say it is an effective vaccine,” he said.
Khairy was speaking to reporters during the weekly National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (NIP) press conference held jointly with Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba.
On April 17, Health director-general Tan Sri Noor Hisham Abdullah had announced that 40 healthcare workers had contracted Covid-19 upon completion of their vaccine shots.
Of the total, 31 healthcare workers were infected less than two weeks after the second dose of inoculation, while another nine were infected more than two weeks after the second dose.
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Khairy said they will be working with the Home Ministry and the United Nations (UN) on vaccinating registered refugees as well as UN Human Rights Council (UNHCR) card holders in Phase 3 of the NIP.
Migrant workers in factories and industries will also be immunised in Phase 3 and during the economic sector phase, which is expected to start in June when the Covid-19 vaccine supply is sufficient.
Khairy said to boost vaccine confidence and combat the fear of being arrested among migrant workers and refugees, the ministry will put up a cabinet memo for the Cabinet to decide on a policy.
“We have agreed that we will work together with UNHCR to get refugees who are cardholders to be vaccinated.
“I think one key step towards increasing confidence among these refugees is demonstration of fact.
“Once we start working together with non-governmental organisation (NGOs) and UNHCR to vaccinate refugees and they themselves can see that they can come forward to get vaccinated without facing any consequences, word will then spread and they will be more confident in coming out to get vaccinated,” he said.-NST