Dr Chin Zin Hing
KUCHING (Mar 1): A Covid-19 vaccinated person can still be infected with the virus if the antibody has not yet reached the desired level of immunity, state Health director Dr Chin Zin Hing warned.
He said it is also possible for infection to occur if the individual has been infected before receiving the vaccine but does not have any symptoms initially.
In view of this, Dr Chin advised all parties, especially frontliners who have been vaccinated, to continue taking measures like wearing of face masks, maintaining physical distancing, and frequent hand washing.
He urged them to adhere to full compliance with the standard operating procedures (SOPs).
“A person is not fully protected after the first dose of the vaccines and it will also take a few weeks after the second dose to achieve the desired immunity (or resistance to a disease),” he said in a statement today.
Dr Chin explained that the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine needs to be injected twice with the second jab to be carried out on the 21st day after the first injection.
“Immunity is achieved about two weeks after the second dose,” he said.
He also said that the state Health Department will periodically monitor vaccine recipients after the Covid-19 immunisation.
“This is to find out if the recipient has successfully produced enough antibodies to protect them against infection in the future,” he explained.
He said those who have been vaccinated should keep in mind that most people have yet to receive the vaccine and that someone who has been vaccinated can also be a carrier of the virus.
“The practice of non-pharmaceutical control measures and full compliance with SOPs should be continued until herd immunity is achieved.
“Compliance with SOP and public health action still needs to be continued even though phase one of the state’s Covid-19 Immunisation Programme has been rolled out on Feb 26,” he stressed.
He said the state government is targeting for 80 per cent of Sarawakians to be vaccinated by August this year.
“The main target is to ensure that a herd immunity can be achieved in Sarawak and in Malaysia as a whole,” he said.
He reiterated that though the programme serves as a guidance and a beacon of hope for the state to move towards a solution to curb Covid-19, the people must not be complacent and must continue adopting all new SOPs and norms until the herd immunity is achieved.
“The State Health Department calls on all parties to work together to increase the level of public awareness on the importance of the success of the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme as well as to help in ensuring that the programme is carried out according to schedule.
“We hope that this will assist in flattening the curve of the Covid-19 infection,” he said.
The first phase of the state’s Covid-19 vaccination programme was launched last week for frontliners. Sarawak expects to complete all three phases of the programme in August this year.