Kit Siang Should Look At The Hospitalisation Numbers

Vaccinations work and have been effective in reducing the risk of severe infection and related complications, Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said.

He said the Covid-19 National Immunisation Programme has begun bearing fruit and urged the public to get vaccinated as quickly as possible.

He said those who questioned the effectiveness of vaccination should take a look at the Covid-19 hospitalisation numbers.

“Hospital admissions in states where many people were fully vaccinated, such as in the Klang Valley, Negri Sembilan, Labuan and Sawarak, have declined.

“The declining trend of patient admissions can be seen in Sungai Buloh Hospital where there is a decrease of 53 per cent in admissions now compared to early August.

“For Tengku Ampuan Rahimah Hospital in Klang, there is a decrease of 44 per cent, also from early August, a month after the increase in vaccination rollouts in Klang Valley.

“I would like to clarify and emphasise that the vaccines in the NIP are particularly effective in reducing the risk of severe infection and complications.

“I advise and appeal to the public to take the vaccines so that we can bring this pandemic under control immediately and the national economy can recover,” he said.

Elaborating, Khairy said the optimal efficacy of the vaccines in responding to and protecting recipients was two weeks after the second dose or 28 days after taking a single-dose vaccine.

He urged all individuals, those vaccinated and unvaccinated, to adopt the new norms and comply with the standard operating procedures (SOP) set by the National Security Council (NSC) to curb the spread of the virus.

Khairy was responding to queries from DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang who had urged him to address the increasing number of cases in the country despite the national vaccination rate at 44.5 per cent of the population.

The Iskandar Puteri member of parliament cited a report from the Our World In Data website on Aug 28 that Malaysia surpassed Asean and Asian nations in terms of new cases per million population.