Govt has not issued any instruction to make Covid-19 booster jabs mandatory, says Fahmi

KUALA LUMPUR: There has been no instruction from the government to make it mandatory for Malaysians to get booster jabs following the increase in Covid-19 cases, as being viral on social media, says Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil.

The spokesperson for the Unity Government said for the time being, the Health Ministry only encouraged people, especially those in vulnerable and high-risk groups, to take a third booster shot of the Covid-19 vaccine.

"This is a minor misunderstanding on social media; please verify the content before we share any information; sometimes the headline doesn’t match the content and I advise that we verify (the content) first,” he told reporters at Wisma Bernama on Monday (Dec 18).

He said this after witnessing the signing of a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) between the Malaysian National News Agency (Bernama) and China’s Xinhua News Agency, which was also attended by Bernama's Editor-in-Chief (also discharging the duties of Chief Executive Officer) Nur-ul Afida Kamaludin.

Also present was Bernama chairman Datuk Seri Wong Chun Wai.

Fahmi said he would meet Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad to suggest that he hold a meeting with the editors-in-chief of media outlets in this country to clarify issues related to the booster dose. - Bernama