PETALING JAYA: The Health Ministry has dismissed a viral video of its minister Khairy Jamaluddin saying that healthy individuals do not require Covid-19 vaccine boosters.
The ministry said that it was an old video, taken prior to the national booster rollout and recent developments related to Covid-19 variants.
“The video of the Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin was from a press conference at KLIA in September 2021 and during the time, the Covid-19 booster programme had not yet begun.
"At that time, the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (PICK) for the first and second dose was still in full swing," it said, adding that only 79.6% of the adult population had completed their vaccination at the time, which did not yet meet the target of 90% adult inoculation.
The Health Ministry said in a statement that the administering of booster shots was implemented in stages by giving priority to vulnerable groups consisting of the elderly, as well as those with co-morbidity and at risk of infection.
"After the majority of these groups had received their booster shots, the booster vaccination was opened to other eligible members of the population.
"The administration of the booster shots is required based on current developments in the monitoring of vaccine efficacy as well as the challenges faced with the emergence of new variants of the Covid-19 virus," it said, noting that other countries such as the UK, US, Thailand Indonesia and Singapore are also offering booster shots to their adult population.
The ministry said that it was an old video, taken prior to the national booster rollout and recent developments related to Covid-19 variants.
“The video of the Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin was from a press conference at KLIA in September 2021 and during the time, the Covid-19 booster programme had not yet begun.
"At that time, the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (PICK) for the first and second dose was still in full swing," it said, adding that only 79.6% of the adult population had completed their vaccination at the time, which did not yet meet the target of 90% adult inoculation.
The Health Ministry said in a statement that the administering of booster shots was implemented in stages by giving priority to vulnerable groups consisting of the elderly, as well as those with co-morbidity and at risk of infection.
"After the majority of these groups had received their booster shots, the booster vaccination was opened to other eligible members of the population.
"The administration of the booster shots is required based on current developments in the monitoring of vaccine efficacy as well as the challenges faced with the emergence of new variants of the Covid-19 virus," it said, noting that other countries such as the UK, US, Thailand Indonesia and Singapore are also offering booster shots to their adult population.
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