A seemingly never-ending story

AFTER the year that we’ve had, many of us hope that 2022 will be a better and kinder one.

But even as we prepare to usher in the Year of the Tiger, trying to strike a positive note in these depressing times is difficult.

For sure Covid-19 isn’t going anywhere soon. As India and the United States grapple with record cases, Malaysia has consistently recorded daily numbers at around 2,500 to 3,000 positive cases.

But as Omicron numbers increase, we are now being told of another strain, the IHU variant.

The Malaysian government, predictably, has reacted to these new threats by pushing for booster shots.

However, the large number of cancellations and no-shows for vaccination appointments is an indication that people have become desensitised to Covid-19-related news. In fact, the frustration on the ground is palpable as questions are being asked as to the necessity of taking the booster jab.

To be clear though, I received my AstraZeneca booster dose on Tuesday, and I’m happy I took the jab.

But the vaccine card given to me after the procedure indicates that there could be a fourth jab down the road.

When will this never-ending cycle of vaccinations end? It isn’t being anti-vax if you question the need for a booster jab, query the mixing of booster doses or even ask why the duration for a third dose for Pfizer and AZ recipients was shortened from six to three months.

These are the questions that ordinary citizens are asking the government.

And far from allaying the fears of the rakyat, the authorities have instead caused further confusion with new rules such as no more walk-ins at vaccination centres or even the veiled threat to Sinovac recipients that they risk being declared unvaccinated if they do not get a booster jab.

I still believe in vaccines, but I must question the methodology behind our whole immunisation strategy.

Just this week, the Daily Telegraph reported that a leading expert who helped create the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine said that giving everyone in the world booster shots multiple times a year is not feasible.

“We can’t vaccinate the planet every four to six months. It’s not sustainable or affordable,” Prof Andrew Pollard, the director of the Oxford Vaccine Group and head of the UK’s Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, told the paper.

Pollard also stressed the “need to target the vulnerable” going forward, rather than administering doses to everyone age 12 and older.

More data is needed to ascertain “whether, when and how often those who are vulnerable will need additional doses”, he said.

Pollard also said he thought further evidence was needed before offering a fourth Covid-19 shot to people in the United Kingdom, which is currently rolling out third shots to healthy people aged 18 and older, and at-risk people aged 16 and older.

In Malaysia, vaccines for children will begin sometime in the first quarter of this year for those aged five to 11.

This, coupled with an aggressive booster shot campaign for adults, will hopefully see the country avoid sizeable hospitalisations and deaths so that we can look forward to strong economic growth and a sustainable Covid-19 recovery phase in the immediate, to short term.

At least, that’s the plan. So, the majority of our population, including youngsters, will get the vaccine baring a small but resistant anti-vaxxer groups. And I reckon at least 70% of our adult population should get a booster dose by March at least, but then what comes after this?

Countries around the world are implementing new restrictions.

For example, Hong Kong has banned dine-in after 6pm, Israel has already stated administrating fourth jabs, India’s capital New Delhi will be in a lockdown this weekend, while Australia, facing a record number of cases, stuck to its guns by deporting Novak Djokovic.

The world’s number one tennis player is a prominent anti-vaxxer who was hoping to play in the Australian Open – which is starting on Jan 17 – but fell afoul of the country’s tough vaccination laws.

Is there a possibility that Malaysia will go down the same road as Singapore, who this week mandated boosters for its citizens within 270 days of the last shot to avoid restrictions of entry to venues and events?

Or do we start planning for a fourth booster shot in the second quarter of the year?

The reality is, we don’t really know. Vaccinations have helped reduce severe illness, hospitalisations and death, but they do not stop you from getting infected with Covid-19.

The best scientists in the world have been working around the clock for almost two years to put an end the pandemic, with limited success.

Yes, there’s been a slew of vaccines produced that have made the big pharmaceutical companies a load of money, but we have yet to see a cure-all for Covid-19.