Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin announced today that he has set early October as the target for the administration Covid-19 vaccine booster shot for high-risk groups.
During the Kedah Covid-19 Immunisation Task Force (CITF) press conference, Khairy listed those who fall into the category: the elderly with comorbidities, frontliners with health issues or at high-risk, those with poor immune systems and workers at old folks homes.
“We will prioritise them first and after that, we will open to others. This, we may be able to execute in early October for this first group, God willing,” he said.
There is a need to tighten checks on the MySejahtera application status of individuals at all premises, especially supermarkets, to ensure those placed under the Home Supervision Order (HSO) do not gain entry.
Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said his ministry had detected non-compliance of the HSO because there were still individuals found checking in at supermarkets despite being in the quarantine period.
"In Kedah, in just one week, there were 523 MySejahtera check-ins (to premises) who were Covid-19 positive or high-risk individuals placed under home quarantine.
A total of 99.74 per cent of the 2,707 new Covid-19 infections in Sarawak today were asymptomatic and mild cases, said the State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC).
The Sarawak SDMC said in a statement that, of the new cases, 1,788 cases were in Category One (no symptoms); 912 in Category Two (mild symptoms), one in Category Three (lung infections), two in Category Four (requiring oxygen) and four in Category Five (requiring ventilator).
“With the increased number of new cases, the cumulative infections in the state is now at 179,788,” it added.
Two Orang Asli villages in Pahang will be placed under the 14-day Enhanced Movement Control Order (EMCO) from midnight today (Sept 20) to curb the spread of Covid-19.
National Security Council (NSC) director-general Datuk Rodzi Md Saad said the EMCO would end on Oct 3.
"The two villages are Kampung Orang Asli Sungai Koi, Hulu Cheka in Jerantut and Kampung Orang Asli Ulu Pareh in Bentong," he said in a statement today.
Rodzi said the EMCO at Taman Pantai Lok Kawi in Papar, Sabah which was to end tomorrow (Sept 20), would be extended until Oct 4.
Authorities will crackdown on syndicates said to be involved in the sale of fake Covid-19 vaccination certificates.
Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said he has received information on the existence of such syndicates allegedly involved in the sale of Covid-19 vaccination certificate.
"If this is true, I would like to stress that the action of this syndicate is irresponsible and an insult to the strong effort by our frontliners as well as volunteers involved in the Covid-19 immunisation programme to ensure Malaysians have been fully inoculated.
"I will ensure that action will be taken against these syndicates.
A total of 14,954 new Covid-19 cases were reported on Sunday (Sept 19), bringing the cumulative total to 2,097,830, says the Health Ministry.
Sarawak recorded the highest number of cases with 2,707 infections, followed by Selangor (2,028), Johor (1,948), Kelantan (1,420) and Sabah (1,356).
This was followed by Penang (1,259), Perak (1,222), Kedah (809), Pahang (705), Terengganu (671), Kuala Lumpur (383), Melaka (207), Negeri Sembilan (144), Perlis (76) and Putrajaya (19). Labuan recorded zero cases.
Four localities — three in Pahang and one in Sabah — will be placed under the enhanced movement control order (EMCO) from Monday until October 3, according to the National Security Council (MKN).
MKN’s national security director-general Datuk Rodzi Md Saad said the affected localities in Pahang are Kampung Sungai Kabuk, Kampung Sungai Tiang dan Kampung Sungai Chohong in Lembah Bertam, Cameron Highlands, while in Sabah, the area involved is Kampung Tamu Darat, Kota Belud.
He said the decision to enforce the EMCO was made after the Health Ministry’s presentation on risk assessment as well as Covid-19 infection trends.
Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah today said brought in dead (BID) cases involving Covid-19 patients in Sarawak’s rural areas could have been prevented if they had sought treatment at the government hospitals.
He said such prompt action would save them and reduce BID cases from longhouses and rural areas.
“Anyone with symptoms such as low grade fever, cough and sore throat and loss sense of smell must come for testing and medical review by health personnel at the nearest hospital or health clinic,” Uggah said after a meeting with Betong Division Health Officer Dr Johnny Pangkas to discuss a health education programme for folks in Betong Division.
Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin made a surprise visit to Kajang Hospital today.
Ministry officials confirmed the matter with the New Straits Times, saying that Khairy spent an hour looking at the conditions at the healthcare facility and meet with staff and personnel.
A medical officer, Dr Khairul Hafidz (@khairul_hafidz) took to Twitter sharing the minister's surprise visit to the hospital on a weekend.
"Spotted in Hospital Kajang. This is what we call a real surprise visit. Some of the staff would surely have had their hearts 'pop out of their chest' seeing the minister arriving for the visit. Good job YB @Khairykj," he wrote.
The government is currently working on vaccine efficiency analysis to give a better insight into that issue.
Crisis Preparedness and Response Centre (CPRC) head of data, Dr Mahesh Appannan revealed this when asked if there is any possible approach to conducting analysis on vaccine efficiency.
This comes following a trend in which people are trying to conduct their own analysis, resulting in confusion among society due to some analysis saying certain vaccines had shown waning effect after a period of time.
The number of Covid-19 cases continues to decline for the fourth consecutive day, as the country records 15,549 new infections as of noon today.
Sarawak remained the state with the most number of cases at 2,929, followed by Johor at 2,208.
Selangor reported 1,995 cases, followed by Sabah (1,395), Penang (1,375), Kelantan (1,214), Perak (1,120), and Kedah (1,073).
States reporting case numbers in the hundreds are Terengganu (755), Pahang (634), Kuala Lumpur (382), Melaka (263), and Negri Sembilan (131).
Four Covid-19 cases were discovered following screening exercises carried out at air and sea entry points to Langkawi.
Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the four were among 3,454 individuals who were screened before leaving for Langkawi.
One case each was detected at the Penang and Sultan Abdul Aziz Airport in Subang.
“Two positive cases were discovered at the Kuala Perlis jetty,” he said in his tweet on Friday (Sept 17).
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