By Nur Ashikin Louis
KUCHING, Oct 1: Sarawak was lucky to have reached the end of Covid-19 vaccination for adults when Delta variant arrived from Peninsular Malaysia and Kalimantan simultaneously.
Without the high rate of vaccination then and now, State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) advisor Dato Sri Dr Sim Kui Hian said Sarawak will not only have a surge in Covid-19 cases by Delta, but also in severe Categories 4 and 5 cases, and deaths.
“Thanks to people of Sarawak, truly the spirit of solidarity, we have very high vaccination rate in such a short period of time for Dose 1 (>90%) and Dose 2 (>90%) for adults, as well as the ongoing vaccination program for 16 to 17-year-olds and 12 to 15-year-olds,” he said in a Facebook post last night.
Further onward to the third Covid-19 booster shots, Dr Sim said all Sarawakians including frontliners, high-risk groups, and those with comorbidities will eventually be supplied with extra protection, as reassured by top medical expert Dr Anthony Fauci, who is also the White House chief medical advisor.
In a report by CNBC dated Sept 2, Dr Fauci said he would not be surprised if Pfizer and Moderna vaccines require three shots for full regimen, instead of two, to help the immune system mature.
With Sarawak, once again, entrusted to be the first in Malaysia to roll out booster shots beginning this month, Dr Sim stressed that the additional dose will guarantee boosted immunity against the everchanging virus.
Meanwhile, the Minister for Local Government and Housing mentioned that he had participated in Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) research “Determination of protective antibody levels after Covid-19 vaccination” by SARS-CoV-2 Surrogate Virus Neutralization Test.
“The results had shown that my percentage of inhibition to Delta variant had dropped steadily to 56 per cent for Wuhan and 56 per cent for Delta in a period of 3 months and 42 per cent for Delta in a period of 6 months,” he said adding that percentage less than 30 would not be detectable.
“Of course, I still have T cell (white blood cell) to increase antibodies’ response if I am unfortunately infected by Covid-19.” — DayakDaily
