KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia could be ahead of schedule in meeting its target of administering 500,000 vaccine shots in the first phase of the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (NIP).
Medical experts said based on the current vaccination rate and capacity, the country was on the right track towards achieving its target, as long as there was total cooperation from those who had registered for the vaccine and there were no disruptions to the execution.
Associate Professor Dr Malina Osman, an epidemiologist and biostatistician from Universiti Putra Malaysia, said more than 400,000 frontliners and those eligible in the category had been vaccinated, with another 100,000 expected to be vaccinated this month.
"This means by mid-April, almost all of them (500,000) will be fully vaccinated.
"I believe we can achieve the target for NIP's first phase ahead of schedule with the current average vaccination rate.
"And if we are ahead of the schedule, I suggest we continue with the second phase without waiting for the actual (previously announced) date to kick off," she told the New Straits Times.
She said the smooth operations of Phase 1 would pave the way for future phases to be just as successful, charting the way to herd immunity by year end as projected.
"This is achievable provided all of us who are eligible to be vaccinated give our full cooperation by registering to be vaccinated and complying with the schedule."
On registered individuals who failed to turn up on the vaccination day, Malina believed there were reasons for their no-show, such as not feeling well, having no transportation to the vaccination centre, having no one to accompany them, forgetting or missing the appointment, or even because they were not aware about it.
"Logistically speaking, this hiccup can be ironed out by having their attendance confirmed via MySejahtera App or phone calls.
"Those who have persons under their care, such as parents, should make the effort to ensure they get vaccinated on schedule.
"Liaison officers who are in charge of the clinic (for the vaccination programme) should also ensure that possible waste of the vaccine can be avoided."
Manipal University College Malaysia's Community and Occupational Medicine professor Dr G. Jayakumar said the likelihood of achieving the target of vaccinating 500,000 healthcare professionals in the first phase could be within reach if there were no hiccups in vaccine supply.
Therefore, he said the government should look for alternative vaccine manufacturers, such as from India, in the event that Malaysia's regular supply chain was disrupted.
He also said reports claiming that frontliners and vulnerable groups who found themselves missed out in the first phase of the NIP, should be looked into by authorities immediately to ensure the situation did not recur.
Dr Jayakumar also raised concern over the number of vaccine registrants who did not show up for their vaccination appointment, calling for action to be taken against them if they failed to show valid reasons.
"Once the vaccines are opened, they have a short shelf life for use. They have to be discarded once the period lapses. Those who don't show up may lead to wastage of vaccines.
"We are also dicing with a precarious situation, if healthcare professionals choose to shun vaccination due to misinformation and wrong perception of the vaccines. They are an important voice for successful implementation of the NIP."
He said there was a growing problem with a recently-coined phrase "infodemic", referring to the rapid spread of misleading or fabricated news, images and videos regarding Covid-19 vaccines, as well as overabundance of information.
"Most of the rumours erroneously tie a person's untimely demise to the fact they recently received Covid-19 vaccine.
"The 'big lie' conspiracy theories also allege that the vaccine could cause all manner of major side effects, from infertility to permanently altering your genetics."
He noted that the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States reported that a review of relevant clinical information on death certificates, autopsies and medical records revealed that there had been no evidence to show that Covid-19 vaccination contributed to patients' deaths.
"The government needs to educate the people to be responsible if they register to be vaccinated."
Epidemiologist Datuk Dr Awang Bulgiba Awang Mahmud called on the government to make public the numbers as well as the percentage of targeted vaccine recipients, for the first and second doses, instead of just the numbers.
"These figures will indicate whether we are really on target for the first and second doses."
He said while the Phase 1 target could easily be achieved, its success was not an indication of success in Phases 2 and 3 as the circumstances would be different.
"For Phases 2 and 3, the pace of registration needs to be stepped up as we are behind what I would consider a reasonable number and percentage of registrations.
"The statistics should display a detailed breakdown of figures for each state. There are many who do not routinely use the MySejahtera app, so assistance needs to be rendered to them to register in other ways."
Dr Awang Bulgiba, the head of the Independent Covid-19 Vaccination Advisory Committee under the Science, Technology and Innovation Ministry also said more effort should be made to assist registrants to remember their appointments.
Malaysia is in the first phase of the NIP, which aims to vaccinate about 500,000 frontline workers by next month.
Phase 2 is scheduled from April to August, for about 9.4 million senior citizens aged 60 and above and high-risk groups.
Phase 3 is scheduled to begin from May until February next year, aimed at vaccinating about 13.7 million people aged 18 and above, both citizens and non-citizens.