KUCHING, Oct 25: Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) advisor Dato Sri Dr Sim Kui Hian advised the public not to listen to pundits but instead to trust the country’s medical experts with regards to Covid-19 booster shots in Sarawak.
Dr Sim in a Facebook post yesterday said the decision to administer booster shots in Sarawak was made after medical experts from Sarawak Covid-19 Vaccine Advisory Group (Scovag) and the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Authority (NPRA) under the Ministry of Health (MoH) reviewed the latest scientific data both locally and internationally including from the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Dr Sim who is also Minister for Local Government and Housing said he had received many WhatsApp messages in the past one week, some out of curiosity, while others were blatant accusations about booster shots in Sarawak.
“Very sad, instead of the truthful medical experts’ decision being viralled to save lives, we now have the pundit’s prediction being treated as a gospel truth!
“Worse many of these simple viral (messages) may resulted in loss of lives at this point of the pandemic.
“Is it just human nature? Let’s learn together as we need the truth, truth to save lives at the moment,” he said.
Dr Sim added pundits had on Sept 17 predicted the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) panel would rejected the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine as booster shots but the FDA on Sept 22 had approved the usage of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine for booster shots, different from the pundits’ prediction earlier.
On a video shared by a national daily featuring WHO’s chief scientist Dr Soumya Swaminathan who advised people against mixing and matching Covid-19 vaccines from different manufacturers, Dr Sim who is a cardiologist said the video was shared three months ago.
He pointed out that currently, even with the best scientific and medical brains in the world coming together, every week there are new breakthroughs in Covid-19 investigations and therapeutic treatments.
In the meantime, Sarawak is currently administering Pfizer Covid-19 booster shots to senior citizens aged 60 and above.
Individuals eligible to receive booster shots encompasse senior citizens aged 60 and above who have received Pfizer Covid-19 vaccinations at least six months ago, and Sinovac Covid-19 vaccinations at least three months ago. — DayakDaily
