The year ahead against Covid-19

Healthcare preparedness: Some experts are hopeful that we will not see the same degree of capacity strain in terms of hospital usage and medical practitioners as we did last year. — FAIHAN GHANI/The Star

AS Malaysia’s Covid-19 vaccination programme moves towards the booster stage, there is hope that next year may see some respite from the long pandemic. However, we cannot let our guard down and must remain vigilant amidst the emergence of more dangerous strains like the Delta, and new variants of concern like the Omicron.

While Malaysia’s vaccination rate is in a good place with 78% of Malaysia’s total population fully vaccinated (according to the covidnow.moh.gov.my website updated yesterday), the low uptake of boosters is a red flag for local healthcare specialists. To counter waning immunity, the public needs to embrace boosters, they say.