Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah says Health Ministry (MOH) is considering making Covid-19 vaccination compulsory once it’s available.
However, he said the ministry would first have to conduct a study on the side effects and effectiveness of the vaccine before making any decision on the matter.
“There is a study on it but the race to find the Covid-19 vaccine is still underway, ” he told media in the daily press conference on Jun 5.
MOH was also in the midst of conducting research on the immune response to the Covid-19 virus. Somehow, they had detected some asymptomatic Covid-19 patients had built up antibodies against the virus.
On the Phase 3 trial of Covid-19 vaccine testing that will be conducted by the US-based biotech firm Moderna next month, Dr Noor Hisham said the development seems to be positive adding that though many other countries are also conducting studies and research, it would take at least a year before the vaccine could be marketed.
MCO managed the flatten the curve. However, now our challenges is with foreign workers.
“The illegal foreign workers we have to detain them in our immigration detention centres and deport them as soon as possible to their respective countries. The legal foreign workers we need to look into their housing and living standards and see how they can comply with the SOPs.”
“Malaysians have largely complied with the MCO and hopefully in July we can bring the number of cases down further to single digits for Malaysians but because of the immigration detention centres there is a surge.”
“If we can control the foreign workers’ outbreaks, rest assured we can achieve our target and rest assured we can break the chain of Covid-19 by mid-July,” said Noor Hisham.
He added that as Malaysia started to open up economic sectors, it would need to be vigilant and monitor Covid-19 transmissions, especially with a view to border control.
Source : The Star | Malaysiakini