The Malaysian Insight

THE Health Ministry has reminded the public to continue following health rules to curb Covid-19 infections.

Health Director-General Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said this was the best way to keep the coronavirus at bay while waiting for a vaccine to be developed.

“Certainly vaccine is helpful but today we do not have a phase three clinical trials report yet (on any vaccine currently under development)

“I don’t think the vaccine is the best answer because this is an ongoing process. The vaccine will be an internal war in your body, why not bring the fight outside the body by following the SOP?”

“And even with the vaccine, we must comply with the SOP,” he told a media conference in Putrajaya today.

Dr Noor Hisham emphasised that physical distancing, wearing masks and frequent hand washing can break the Covid-19 transmission by 82%.

He said these measures have reduced the coronavirus transmission in the country as well as other diseases, such as measles, chickenpox, hand-foot-mouth-disease by more than 60%.

“Learning from past experience, we have managed to eliminate SARS and MERS-CoV through SOPs although we still do not have a vaccine for these till today,” he said.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) are also respiratory illnesses caused by coronaviruses.

Dr Noor Hisham said the ministry is in negotiation with Covax and countries like China to get access to a vaccine.

Covax is coordinated by GAVI, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness (CEPI) and the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Malaysia will be a part of the Covid-19 vaccine global access (Covax) platform, the Science, Technology and Innovation Ministry (Mosti) said two days ago.

Putrajaya is also negotiating the terms to be a part of CEPI.

Dr Noor Hisham said talks are also ongoing for a government-to-government agreement with China for access to vaccines developed by Chinese pharmaceutical companies.

“Once the vaccine is available, we will be into a negotiation process on how to cure the population in this country.”

On treatment capacity, Dr Noor Hisham said that the Ministry’s hospitals still could handle cases.

“We have 1,365 ventilators, but we only use two patients in the ICU,” he said.

However, Dr Noor Hisham said the ministry would not have the capacity to handle a significant spike in daily cases.

He said the ministry is worried about the next couple of months and is monitoring cases in the neighbouring countries.

“Even before winter, we have seen escalating cases in other countries.

“For example, South Korea, Japan, Australia and New Zealand have exponentially increased positive cases.

“There’s a possibility of spread, and because we are not immune, we have to tighten our borders.”

If there are travellers who are entering Malaysia, they must fulfil all the rules, he said. – September 22, 2020.