KOTA KINABALU: Malaysia needs to speed up the Covid-19 vaccination programme to achieve herd immunity by year end.
Former communications and multimedia minister Datuk Seri Salleh Said Keruak said achieving herd immunity would be impossible without accelerating the immunisation programme.
He said, for now, the programme could only vaccinate about 1.2 million people compared to 32 million people in the country, which is still small and far from the target.
"I understand that this programme is moving slowly due to the insufficient supply of vaccines as a result of the monopoly by bigger powers. However, the government has given an assurance that the supply of vaccines can be restored by this June and vaccinations will be carried out on a large scale after that.
"I believe the government has done its best for this vaccination programme and will rectify all the weaknesses as soon as possible," he said in a statement.
The Usukan assemblyman had also appealed to the public to support the government's efforts to curb the spread of Covid-19.
He said, only through vaccination, can Covid-19 infections in the country be lowered.
"The implementation of the Movement Control Order and the enforcement of standard operating procedures (SOPs) cannot curb the spread of Covid-19.
"This is supported by the daily record of the number of new positive cases which has not dropped to two or one figure since MCO 2.0, while the projected infectivity rate has failed to hit the target of less than 1.0.
"These statistics are very worrying and I see only vaccination as the best and most effective solution. This opinion is in line with the recommendations of public health experts who believe vaccines are the only option to curb the spread of this pandemic," he said.
Salleh said vaccination could reduce the number of cases faster and it had been proven effective in developed countries such as the United Kingdom.
He said in the UK, about 24.5 million or 68 per cent of the 36 million population had received the first dose of Covid-19 vaccines, while 19 million had already received two doses of injections.
"Their immunisation programme is commendable as they are able to vaccinate as many as 100,000 people a day as they do the inoculation beyond hospitals which include religious, recreational and rural centres.
"The success of this group immunity has also influenced the country's decision to reopen various sectors to the public, including allowing 21,000 people to attend the FA Cup match at Wembley Stadium on May 15," he said.
In this regard, Salleh said the success of the country should be used as an example to the government to improve the weaknesses in the country, starting with improving the vaccine distribution and registration system.