The Health Ministry today reported 6,239 new Covid-19 cases bringing the total number of cumulative infections in the country to 633,891.

Selangor climbed back to above 2,000 cases while Kuala Lumpur also saw an uptick in cases.

The increase led to the Klang Valley contributing to almost half of the total number of new cases over the past 24 hours.

Active Covid-19 cases have continued to drop for the third straight day after two months of continuous increases.

However, the number of patients requiring intensive care reached a new record today.

• Active cases: 81,575
• Patients in ICUs: 905
• Intubated: 453

New cases by state

• Selangor (2,291)
• Kuala Lumpur (704)
• Negeri Sembilan (507)
• Johor (468)
• Sarawak (419)
• Kelantan (340)
• Sabah (232)
• Pahang (232)
• Labuan (200)
• Penang (194)
• Perak (175)
• Terengganu (171)
• Malacca (150)
• Kedah (135)
• Putrajaya (17)
• Perlis (4)

In Selangor (2,291), one in 10 new Covid-19 cases was detected among those who reported symptoms but were not close contacts or linked to existing clusters.

This is considerably better than on May 26 when it was one in six.

As of last night, the R-naught (0.95) figure remains on a downtrend trend which it has been since May 29. An R-naught of less than 1.00 signifies that the spread of Covid-19 is decelerating.

At a more micro-level, the only states or territories where the R-naught is more than 1.00 are Sarawak, Perak, Negeri Sembilan, Labuan, Kuala Lumpur, Malacca and Sabah.

Deaths

The Health Ministry reported another 75 deaths today attributed to Covid-19 bringing the national death toll to 3,611.

Selangor (23) reported the most deaths followed by Johor (18), Kelantan (7), Kuala Lumpur (5), Kedah (5), Negeri Sembilan (3), Sabah (3), Sarawak (3), Malacca (3), Perak (2), Labuan (1), Terengganu (1) and Penang (1).

There were four victims under the age of 40 and 11 victims who were pronounced dead upon arrival at the hospital.

For a detailed breakdown of the reported deaths today, please refer to our Covid-19 tracker site.

Clusters

The Health Ministry is currently monitoring 734 active Covid-19 clusters. For comparison, on May 9, there were 436 active clusters being monitored.

Another 15 new clusters were classified today, of which 13 involved workplaces.

Sungai Rasau 27 cluster
Category: Workplace
State(s): Selangor
District(s): Klang, Petaling and Kuala Langat
Total infected: 35 out of 149 screened

Perusahaan Dua Batu Caves cluster
Category: Workplace
State(s): Selangor
District(s): Gombak
Total infected: 12 out of 78 screened

Industri Balakong Tujuh cluster
Category: Workplace
State(s): Selangor
District(s): Hulu Langat, Petaling and Gombak
Total infected: 36 out of 183 screened

Camar Lapan cluster
Category: Workplace
State(s): Selangor
District(s): Kuala Langat
Total infected: 8 out of 21 screened

Alam Jaya Dua cluster
Category: Workplace
State(s): Selangor
District(s): Kuala Selangor and Gombak
Total infected: 62 out of 85 screened

Jalan Wisma cluster
Category: Workplace
State(s): Sabah
District(s): Kota Kinabalu
Total infected: 7 out of 25 screened

Lot Sembilan cluster
Category: Workplace
State(s): Sabah
District(s): Kuala Penyu and Beaufort
Total infected: 24 out of 88 screened

Kampung Huda cluster
Category: Workplace
State(s): Kelantan
District(s): Kota Bharu, Bachok, Pasir Puteh and Tumpat
Total infected: 24 out of 76 screened

Industri Teluk Kalong cluster
Category: Workplace
State(s): Terengganu
District(s): Kemaman
Total infected: 103 out of 1,500 screened

Lorong Perusahaan 8A cluster
Category: Workplace
State(s): Penang
District(s): Sebarang Perai Utara, Seberang Perai Tengah and Seberang Perai Selatan
Total infected: 34 out of 134 screened

Industri Medan Tasek cluster
Category: Workplace
State(s): Perak
District(s): Kinta
Total infected: 19 out of 231 screened

Jalan Keluli Sembilan cluster
Category: Workplace
State(s): Johor
District(s): Johor Bahru
Total infected: 14 out of 44 screened

Dah Mengkudu cluster
Category: Workplace
State(s): Kedah
District(s): Kota Setar, Kubang Pasu, Penandg and Yan
Total infected: 39 out of 157 screened

Gong Mengkeleh cluster
Category: Community
State(s): Kelantan
District(s): Pasir Puteh
Total infected: 20 out of 40 screened

Putra Sembilan cluster
Category: Private educational institution registered with Education Ministry
State(s): Putrajaya and Selangor
District(s): Putrajaya and Sepang
Total infected: 10 out of 49 screened

Source:Malaysiakini

COVID-19 | The Health Ministry today reported 5,566 new Covid-19 cases where 2,017 were detected in the Klang Valley alone.

However, new daily cases being reported in the Klang Valley has been considerably lower during the past three days, compared to the average seen in the prior two weeks.

Based on the number of samples taken over the past 24 hours (ending noon), the positivity rate was about 7.2 percent.

The number of samples taken today was 77,030 – down 23.6 percent from exactly a week ago.

Active Covid-19 cases have been trending downwards for a second day after three weeks of continuous increase.

However, the number of Covid-19 patients needing intensive care has reached a new record, as has the number of patients requiring ventilators.

• Active cases: 82,797
• Patients in ICUs: 903
• Intubated: 458

States

• Selangor (1,524)
• Sarawak (707)
• Negeri Sembilan (505)
• Kuala Lumpur (466)
• Johor (456)
• Sabah (350)
• Malacca (314)
• Perak (225)
• Kelantan (204)
• Labuan (191)
• Penang (185)
• Pahang (157)
• Kedah (148)
• Terengganu (106)
• Putrajaya (27)
• Perlis (1)

In Selangor (1,524), one in eight new Covid-19 cases were found only after a person reported symptoms.

As of yesterday, the R-naught for the country was 0.97. An R-naught of below 1.00 – signifying that the spread of Covid-19 was finally decelerating – has been observed for two straight days.

At a more micro level, the states or territories where the R-naught was less than 1.00 are Putrajaya, Kedah, Pahang, Terengganu, Perlis, Penang and Kelantan.

A week ago, every part of Malaysia had a R-naught of more than 1.00.

Death

Another 76 deaths attributed to Covid-19 were recorded. The cumulative death toll has reached 3,536.

Selangor reported the most deaths followed by Johor (13), Negeri Sembilan (9), Kuala Lumpur (8), Labuan (7), Kelantan (4), Malacca (4), Kedah (4), Terengganu (3), Pahang (2), Perak (2), Sarawak (1) and Sabah (1).

The victims were age between 25 and 101. There were four victims who were below 40 and five who were pronounced dead upon arrival at the hospital.

Details of the victims are documented in Malaysiakini’s Covid-19 tracker site.

Clusters

The Health Ministry is monitoring 730 active Covid-19 clusters. Comparatively, on May 8 there were 429.

Of the 24 new clusters today, 15 involved workplaces and five were community transmissions. Details as follows:

Jalan Satu Olak Dua cluster
Category: Workplace
State(s): Selangor
District(s): Kuala Langat
Total infected: 6 out of 68 screened

Jalan Equine cluster
Category: Workplace
State(s): Selangor
District(s): Petaling
Total infected: 29 out of 99 screened

Jalan Enam C cluster
Category: Workplace
State(s): Selangor
District(s): Hulu Langat, Klang, Petaling and Sepang
Total infected: 21 out of 48 screened

Bukit Rahman Lapan cluster
Category: Workplace
State(s): Selangor
District(s): Gombak
Total infected: 19 out of 127 screened

Coral cluster
Category: Workplace
State(s): Sabah
District(s): Kota Kinabalu
Total infected: 9 out of 283 screened

Ocean Blue cluster
Category: Workplace
State(s): Sabah
District(s): Kota Kinabalu
Total infected: 99 out of 185 screened

Segara cluster
Category: Workplace
State(s): Sabah
District(s): Kota Kinabalu
Total infected: 11 out of 141 screened

Industri Tanjung Agas cluster
Category: Workplace
State(s): Johor
District(s): Tangkak
Total infected: 8 out of 42 screened

Jalan Kesang cluster
Category: Workplace
State(s): Johor
District(s): Tangkak
Total infected: 19 out of 261 screened

Dah Mahang Merah cluster
Category: Workplace
State(s): Kedah
District(s): Kulim and Kuala Muda
Total infected: 19 out of 44 screened

Tapak Bina Muda 2 cluster
Category: Workplace
State(s): Kuala Lumpur
District(s): Titiwangsa
Total infected: 33 out of 60 screened

Jalan Alamanda Presint Satu cluster
Category: Workplace
State(s): Putrajaya
District(s): Putrajaya
Total infected: 11 out of 44 screened

Jalan Seruling cluster
Category: Workplace
State(s): Penang
District(s): Seberang Perai Selatan
Total infected: 23 out of 547 screened

Jalan Kota Jelasin cluster
Category: Workplace
State(s): Kelantan
District(s): Kota Bharu and Tumpat
Total infected: 10 out of 24 screened

Jalan Sri Jaafar cluster
Category: Workplace
State(s): Pahang
District(s): Bentong
Total infected: 32 out of 155 screened

Kampung Bundu cluster
Category: Community
State(s): Sabah
District(s): Kuala Penyu
Total infected: 39 out of 303 screened

Tanjung Aru Baru cluster
Category: Community
State(s): Sabah
District(s): Kota Kinabalu
Total infected: 30 out of 213 screened

Ulu Teru cluster
Category: Community
State(s): Sarawak
District(s): Miri and Beluru
Total infected: 46 out of 468 screened

Ulu Sebakong cluster
Category: Community
State(s): Sarawak
District(s): Mukah
Total infected: 61 out of 147 screened

Rantau Kenanga cluster
Category: Community
State(s): Perak
District(s): Hilir Perak
Total infected: 39 out of 69 screened

Jalan Melang cluster
Category: High-risk group
State(s): Negeri Sembilan
District(s): Kuala Pilah
Total infected: 29 out of 232 screened

Teluk Kabung cluster
Category: High-risk group
State(s): Johor
District(s): Johor Bahru
Total infected: 47 out of 132 screened

Jalan Cempedak 2 cluster
Category: High-risk group
State(s): Kuala Lumpur
District(s): Kepong
Total infected: 17 out of 56 screened

Jalan Logah Segamat cluster
Category: Religious event
State(s): Johor
District(s): Segamat
Total infected: 14 out of 30 screened

Source:Malaysiakini

COVID-19 | The Health Ministry today reported 7,452 new Covid-19 cases. and 109 deaths.

Meanwhile, the number of active cases and patients in ICU continued to climb to record highs.

• Active cases: 85,607
• Patients in ICU: 886
• Intubated: 446

After three weeks of the movement control order (MCO), the number of new cases in the Klang Valley remains above the 3,000 mark.

New infections in Pahang (286) appeared to have swelled over the past week, more so in Negeri Sembilan (843).

• Selangor (2,509)
• Negeri Sembilan (843)
• Kuala Lumpur (678)
• Sarawak (651)
• Johor (412)
• Penang (370)
• Kelantan (312)
• Pahang (286)
• Kedah (263)
• Sabah (259)
• Perak (252)
• Malacca (206)
• Labuan (205)
• Terengganu (190)
• Putrajaya (12)
• Perlis (4)

COVID-19 | The Health Ministry today reported 7,748 new Covid-19 cases and 86 deaths.

It has been 23 days since the start of the third movement control order (MCO 3.0) and yet there are no signs of things getting better.

The number of active Covid-19 patients, patients needing intensive care or patients needing ventilators all reached new highs today.

• Active cases: 84,369
• Patients in ICU: 883
• Intubated: 459

Cases by states

• Selangor (2,612)
• Kuala Lumpur (851)
• Negeri Sembilan (709)
• Sarawak (706)
• Johor (446)
• Penang (376)
• Perak (371)
• Sabah (287)
• Kelantan (286)
• Kedah (263)
• Malacca (234)
• Labuan (230)
• Terengganu (203)
• Pahang (146)
• Putrajaya (20)
• Perlis (8)

A record 851 new cases were detected in Kuala Lumpur.

Notably, Labuan (230) – with a population of just 100,000 – was still reporting a relatively high number of infections.

In Selangor (2,612), a relatively significant number of people – one in six – were tested positive for Covid-19 only after they reported symptoms.

As of last night, the R-naught has remained at 1.06 for the second straight day. Every territory or state in the country has a R-naught of more than 1.00.

A R-naught of more than 1.00 suggests that the spread of Covid-19 is accelerating.

Deaths

The Health Ministry reported another 86 deaths attributed to Covid-19 today, bringing the death toll to 3,182.

The new deaths were reported in Selangor (20), Johor (14), Negeri Sembilan (13), Kuala Lumpur (7), Sarawak (5), Kedah (4), Pahang (3), Perak (3), Penang (3), Malacca (3), Labuan (3), Sabah (3), Kelantan (2), Terengganu (2) and Perlis (1).

There were two victims who were centenarians. The youngest was a 26-year-old victim in Labuan. Seven victims were pronounced dead upon arrival at the hospital.

Details of the deaths are documented on Malaysiakini’s Covid-19 tracker site.

Clusters

The Health Ministry is monitoring 691 active Covid-19 clusters – the highest on record.

Another 23 new clusters were reported, involving 12 workplaces and seven community spread clusters. Details are as follows:

Persiaran Camellia cluster
Category: Workplace
State(s): Selangor
District(s): Hulu Selangor
Total infected: 14 out of 50 screened

Jalan Sungai Bakau cluster
Category: Workplace
State(s): Selangor
District(s): Gombak and Klang
Total infected: 42 out of 120 screened

Industri Sungai Buloh cluster
Category: Workplace
State(s): Selangor
District(s): Kuala Selangor and Petaling
Total infected: 32 out of 37 screened

Tapak Bina Desa Bakti cluster
Category: Workplace
State(s): Kuala Lumpur
District(s): Kepong and Lembah Pantai
Total infected: 28 out of 48 screened

Industri Persiaran Bunga Tanjung Dua cluster
Category: Workplace
State(s): Negeri Sembilan
District(s): Seremban and Rembau
Total infected: 27 out of 465 screened

Jalan Tampin – Gemas cluster
Category: Workplace
State(s): Negeri Sembilan
District(s): Tampin
Total infected: 44 out of 203 screened

Industri Jalan Senawang Tiga cluster
Category: Workplace
State(s): Negeri Sembilan
District(s): Seremban
Total infected: 53 out of 358 screened

Jalan Keluli Tiga cluster
Category: Workplace
State(s): Johor
District(s): Johor Bahru
Total infected: 27 out of 95 screened

Jalan Bandar Baru cluster
Category: Workplace
State(s): Penang
District(s): Seberang Perai Selatan
Total infected: 51 out of 198 screened

Jalan Jelapang 2 cluster
Category: Workplace
State(s): Perak
District(s): Kinta, Perak Tengah and Kuala Kangsar
Total infected: 28 out of 61 screened

Jalan Tanjung Machang cluster
Category: Workplace
State(s): Kelantan
District(s): Machang
Total infected: 15 out of 52 screened

Pasar Borong Jengka cluster
Category: Workplace
State(s): Pahang
District(s): Maran
Total infected: 19 out of 78 screened

Bunut cluster
Category: Community
State(s): Sarawak
District(s): Mukah and Sibu
Total infected: 35 out of 170 screened

Pulutan cluster
Category: Community
State(s): Sabah
District(s): Nabawan
Total infected: 11 out of 110 screened

Dah Fajar cluster
Category: Community
State(s): Kedah
District(s): Padang Terap
Total infected: 24 out of 79 screened

Dah Rimba cluster
Category: Community
State(s): Kedah
District(s): Sik, Kulim, Kuala Muda and Baling
Total infected: 35 out of 183 screened

Alor Serdang cluster
Category: Community
State(s): Terengganu
District(s): Setiu, Besut and Dungun
Total infected: 58 out of 244 screened

Gunung Senyum cluster
Category: Community
State(s): Pahang
District(s): Temerloh
Total infected: 14 out of 79 screened

Jengka Dua Puluh cluster
Category: Community
State(s): Pahang
District(s): Maran and Jerantut
Total infected: 19 out of 65 screened

Taman Seremban Jaya cluster
Category: Religious event
State(s): Negeri Sembilan
District(s): Seremban
Total infected: 48 out of 78 screened

Jalan Alor Gajah Lama cluster
Category: Religious event
State(s): Malacca
District(s): Alor Gajah and Melaka Tengah
Total infected: 26 out of 73 screened

Persiaran Mercu cluster
Category: Higher education
State(s): Selangor
District(s): Hulu Langat
Total infected: 48 out of 407 screened

Putra Enam Belas cluster
Category: Private education institution registered with Education Ministry
State(s): Putrajaya and Selangor
District(s): Putrajaya, Petaling and Sepang
Total infected: 8 out of 105 screened

Source:Malaysiakini

COVID-19 | The Health Ministry reported 8,209 new cases of Covid-19 today.

There were also 103 deaths, the second day in a row that fatalities have been in the triple digits.

This has pushed the national death toll to 3,096.

The number of recoveries, meanwhile, reached a record high with 7,049 patients discharged.

However, this did not stem an increase in the number of active cases, which are also at record highs.

Also reported was a record number of Covid-19 patients in intensive care or those requiring ventilators.

• Active cases: 83,331
• Patients in ICU: 880*
• Intubated: 446*

New cases by state

The Klang Valley has almost 4,000 cases with over 3,000 alone recorded in Selangor.

Kuala Lumpur had 801 cases, Johor had 752 cases and Sarawak had 594 cases.

Selangor (3125)
Kuala Lumpur (801)
Johor (752)
Sarawak (594)
Negeri Sembilan (576)
Kelantan (414)
Perak (384)
Kedah (373)
Malacca (322)
Penang (303)
Sabah (203)
Pahang (135)
Terengganu (127)
Labuan (62)
Putrajaya (33)
Perlis (5)

Deaths

Today’s new deaths were recorded in Selangor (26), Kuala Lumpur (15), Johor (14), Kelantan (8), Sarawak (8), Sabah (7), Terengganu (6), Negeri Sembilan (6), Penang (4), Kedah (4), Pahang (2), Malacca (2) and Perak (1).

Three of today’s fatalities were in their late 20s, three in their 30s and five in their 40s.

The other fatalities were aged between 51 and 97.

For a detailed breakdown of the reported deaths today, please refer to our Covid-19 tracker site.

Clusters

A total of 683 out of the 2,261 clusters are still active. This includes the 24 new clusters reported today.

Details of the new clusters are as follow:

Tapak Bina Bandar Sunsuria
Category: Workplace
State(s): Selangor
District(s): Sepang
Total infected: 39 out of 166 screened

Tapak Bina Jalan Wawasan
Category: Workplace
State(s): Selangor
District(s): Sepang
Total infected: 19 out of 36 screened

Tapak Bina Persiaran Bukit Raja
Category: Workplace
State(s): Selangor
District(s): Klang
Total infected: 97 out of 291 screened

Jalan Manan 2
Category: Workplace
State(s): Selangor
District(s): Petaling and Kuala Selangor
Total infected: 53 out of 75 screened

Taman Sentosa
Category: Workplace
State(s): Selangor
District(s): Hulu Langat
Total infected: 28 out of 53 screened

Jalan Brooke
Category: Workplace
State(s): Sarawak
District(s): Miri
Total infected: 16 out of 116 screened

Jalan Flora Utama
Category: Workplace
State(s): Johor
District(s): Batu Pahat
Total infected: 43 out of 265 screened

Jalan Murni Lapan
Category: Workplace
State(s): Johor
District(s): Kulai and Johor Bahru
Total infected: 23 out of 272 screened

Jalan Angkasa Mas Satu
Category: Workplace
State(s): Johor
District(s): Johor Bharu
Total infected: 21 out of 68 screened

Jalan Paya
Category: Workplace
State(s): Johor
District(s): Muar
Total infected: 17 out of 149 screened

Kampung Aur
Category: Workplace
State(s): Kelantan
District(s): Bachok
Total infected: 20 out of 60 screened

Jalan Sri Aman
Category: Workplace
State(s): Kelantan
District(s): Pasir Puteh and Kota Bharu
Total infected: 15 out of 19 screened

Jalan 4A Padang Tembak
Category: Workplace
State(s): Kelantan
District(s): Kota Bharu
Total infected: 13 out of 33 screened

Industri Perai Empat
Category: Workplace
State(s): Penang
District(s): Seberang Perai Tengah
Total infected: 22 out of 114 screened

Jalan Pasar Bukit Mertajam
Category: Workplace
State(s): Penang
District(s): Seberang Perai Tengah
Total infected: 10 out of 113 screened

Jalan Coastal Sembulan
Category: Workplace
State(s): Sabah
District(s): Kota Kinabalu and Papar
Total infected: 7 out of 33 screened

Jalan Tembaga Kuning
Category: Workplace
State(s): Perak
District(s): Larut, Matang and Selama
Total infected: 74 out of 228 screened

Industri Gebeng
Category: Workplace
State(s): Pahang
District(s): Kuantan
Total infected: 25 out of 70 screened

Putra Empat
Category: Workplace
State(s): Putrajaya
District(s): Putrajaya
Total infected: 7 out of 9 screened

Sungai Selangan
Category: Community
State(s): Sarawak
District(s): Sarikei
Total infected: 101 out of 286 screened

Jalan Cendana
Category: Community
State(s): Johor
District(s): Kulai
Total infected: 5 out of 43 screened

Kampung Mat Daling
Category: Community
State(s): Pahang
District(s): Jerantut
Total infected: 10 out of 47 screened

Batu Hitam
Category: Community
State(s): Pahang
District(s): Kuantan
Total infected: 39 out of 80 screened

Jalan Damai Budi
Category: Non-Education Ministry institution
State(s): Kuala Lumpur
District(s): Cheras
Total infected: 6 out of 32 screened

Source:Malaysiakini

One of our biggest challenges in the war against the Covid-19 pandemic is how to accelerate the National Immunisation Programme (NIP) and shorten its 22-month programme to achieve herd immunity against Covid-19 to seven or even four months.

For the past few days, both Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin and the Minister co-ordinating the NIP, Khairy Jamaluddin, have been avoiding my question as to what is the latest timeline for Malaysia to achieve herd immunity against Covid-19 under the NIP.

I had referred to an international media report last week which said that based on the present vaccination rate, the estimated time needed to achieve herd immunity with 75 percent of the population vaccinated would be 22 months for Malaysia.

This would take us to March 2023 to achieve herd immunity against Covid-19, which was clearly away from the original target of the National Immunisation Programme (NIP), which was February 2022, or the later instruction of the prime minister to complete the national vaccination rollout by this year.

This is a classic example of why the Muhyiddin government has failed to restore public trust and confidence in its disastrous handling of the Covid-19 pandemic so far, for it does not seem to have a clue about important questions on the Covid-19 pandemic, such as its target on achieving herd immunity against Covuid-19 in Malaysia.

The MCO 3.0 total lockdown of Malaysia has entered into the second day, but what is the Muhyiddin government doing about addressing the yawning deficit of public trust and confidence in the government’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, with Malaysia not only beating Indonesia for the 21 consecutive day in daily increase of new Covid-19 cases (yesterday’s statistics: Malaysia 7,105 cases, Indonesia 4,824 cases) but Malaysia beat the United States for the daily increase of new Covid-19 cases on Monday, May 31, 2021.

On May 31, the daily increase of new Covid-19 cases were 6,824 cases in Malaysia and 5,235 cases in the United States.

As the peak of daily increase in new Covid-19 cases in the United States was 304,951 cases on Jan 8, 2021, the daily increase of new Covid-19 cases in the United States on May 31, 2021, represented a phenomenal drop of 98.3 percent of the cases from its peak.

The reverse, however, is taking place in Malaysia.

Our peak of daily increase of new Covid-19 cases was previously on Jan 30, 2021, when we recorded 5,728 new cases. But for the past six days consecutively, the daily increase of new Covid-19 cases have surged past this Jan 30 peak and the director-general of Health Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah recently spoke of a possible daily increase of 13,000 cases sometime this month.

Global daily increases of Covid-19 cases have dropped 40 percent from the peak of 903,343 cases on April 20 to 360,232 cases on May 31 this year, but Malaysia is bucking the international trend and in search of a new peak.

Very soon, it will be routine for the United States to beat Malaysia in the daily increase of new Covid-19 cases.

I had argued that if the United States, Singapore, Germany and France could achieve herd immunity in another four months, China in another three months, and the United Kingdom in another two months, there is no reason why Malaysia should not accelerate its national vaccination rollout to achieve herd immunity by Malaysia Day on Sept 16, 2021, which will make Malaysia Day this year particularly significant.

But neither Muhyiddin nor Khairy could reveal what is the latest timeline for Malaysia to achieve herd immunity against Covid-19 – whether in 2021, 2022 or 2013.

This is a serious omission and I suspect that even Muhyiddin and Khairy do not know what is the target date for Malaysia to achieve herd immunity.

If Malaysia will only achieve herd immunity in the second half of 2022 or in 2023, then those who received vaccination this year may no more be included among those with Covid-19 immunity, unless they get a booster or another vaccination.

This is a serious omission, which needs immediate attention by Muhyiddin and Khairy as they should realise that the slow and tardy national vaccination rollout has become the nation’s Achilles’ heel in the war against the Covid-19 pandemic.

Although Covid-19 vaccines are not the silver bullet to end the pandemic, they are definitely a game-changer in the war against the Covid-19 pandemic.

The government now claims that it has adequate supplies of vaccines for the Malaysian population. In such a case, there can be no justification for the government to monopolise vaccine purchase and continue to deny the private sector requests to buy the Covid-19 vaccine on their own.

Source:Malaysiakini

‘Why make vaccination so difficult? Why make it so inaccessible?’

Former minister alarmed at more ‘mega’ vaccination centres

PurpleMoose5046: Speed is of the essence. The rakyat’s lives matter.

Please use all existing resources and infrastructure available – our 7,000 private practitioner clinics, 1,000 government health clinics, district hospitals, state hospitals, private hospitals, local council halls and schools throughout Malaysia.

Please don’t go and create or rent unnecessary mega-malls, the World Trade Centre KL (WTC), Sunway Convention Centre, KLCC Convention Centre, or mega stadiums. It is a waste of taxpayer’s money.

All money saved should be channelled to buy more vaccines. Don’t be stubborn, Science, Technology, and Innovation Minister Khairy Jamaluddin, Health Minister Adham Baba, and Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin.

Malaysian1: Former minister Rafidah Aziz, thank you for stressing this point. Why the need for mega centres?

People will have to travel long distances to these centres to get vaccinated. These centres will be crowded with long wait, few places to park, and queues might be mixed up.

Don’t the organisers know we are facing a pandemic? Bring the centres closer to the people with smaller facilities so it will be less crowded and easier to control. It will involve less movement of people and easier parking. You don’t need a first-class degree or PhD to figure this out.

Wira: Private clinics can perhaps manage vaccines like Sinovac or AstraZeneca.

However, they should not be allowed to handle Pfizer as this vaccine requires low-temperature storage with strict rules of thawing those vaccines to room temperature with a short shelf life at room temperature, failing which they must be discarded.

Mano: “We don’t need apps that do not talk to one another. We need people to go to their doctors and have their jabs on the spot,” said Federation of Private Medical Practitioners’ Association Malaysia (FPMPAM) president Dr Steven Chow Kim Weng.

This cannot be more apt. Stop trying to use WTC, Sunway, etc. How much is the government paying these centres per day? Please tell us if any of the owners did national service and offered free usage of their venues.

We should use existing facilities. Every district has a government clinic. There are also many medical GPs around.

As for the Pfizer vaccine, before it is mixed, it can be kept in a normal fridge (2C to 8C) for up to 31 days. After mixing, it can be kept at room temperature for six hours. These statistics are from the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Why so much red tape? Why make vaccination so difficult? Why make it so inaccessible?

WhiteCamel4278: Soon, there will be mega clusters due to the mega centres. All the local clinics can do a better job and at a faster rate than these mega centres, which take a lot of money and workforce to set up and manage.

All that money could have been diverted to help the B40 or M40 (bottom 40 percent and middle 40 percent of income earners).

MariKitaUbah: What’s the use of using mega halls when people are made to wait for hours and hours? Don’t forget, we have a hot climate.

Waiting for half an hour is long enough, imagine people waiting for two to five hours! Please plan properly instead of making people suffer. They have suffered enough!

Kawak: We should benchmark our vaccination programmes on those that run smoothly in other countries like the UK, China or US. Why can’t we do it right?

Mega vaccination centres allow the gathering of huge crowds while the Health Ministry and movement control order (MCO) standard operating procedures (SOPs) are strict on person-to-person contact.

This is absolutely absurd. This is akin to having a festival for vaccines!

ACR: Every other former and current MP wants to be in the limelight giving suggestions on effective vaccine rollout ostensibly to take advantage of the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government’s lack of goodwill with the public.

If one bothers to review the US experience in late December 2020 and early January 2021, you would find they were in the exact circumstances as us now but more alarming given that they had vaccines, yet, the rollout was slow. Vaccines were sitting on hospital shelves. They enlisted GPs and pharmacies to administer vaccinations but each locality had its own logistical problems.

Mega vaccination centres allow for physical distancing and at the same time the logistics would be there to support the vaccination numbers planned.

The PN government was also criticised for not decentralising vaccine procurement. India did exactly this and a Lancet Commission had recommended centralising procurement.

Too many cooks spoil the broth. While bipartisanship should bring about better outcomes, not every donkey and its dog needs airtime.

Determined Sarawakian: It doesn’t matter whether it’s mega facilities, or private and public clinics. We need to send as many people as possible for vaccinations.

If not, we will never have herd immunity. For those mega facilities, make sure there’s order and control.

Selangor’s Covid-19 testing was done efficiently, orderly, and promptly. Pakatan Harapan did a very good job.

All in all, from lining up outside the compound to finishing the test, it took me about 50 minutes. By the time I reached home, the Selangkah phone app already displayed my test result. This should be the way.

Source:Malaysiakini