LETTERS: Now that vaccination drives have been raised a notch with over 300,000 vaccinations per day to achieve herd immunity, there are naysayers who have raised concerns over the vaccines administered to the people - Pfizer, AstraZeneca and Sinovac.
The CanSino vaccine from China which requires a single dosage is being administered to people living in the fringes of the forest and interior. Pfizer vaccine is from the US, AstraZeneca from Oxford, UK, while Sinovac is from China.
Since the vaccines come from different countries there have been contentions that certain vaccines are more effective, more reliable and trust worthy.
Pfizer was the first vaccine that was procured by our government and since supplies of the vaccine were limited, the government had to procure other vaccines from other countries so that we would not be left behind in the vaccination drive.
In the initial stages, many Malaysians were reluctant to be vaccinated with the AstraZeneca vaccine because of adverse reports of people dying of blood clots in the Scandinavian countries.
But later when the vaccine was open to the people in Selangor on a first come first served basis, it was snapped up within a few hours. Now AstraZeneca is the second most popular vaccine in the country.
When the Sinovac vaccine shipment arrived from China there was a lot of doubts and prejudice towards its efficacy and reliability. It has an efficacy rate of about 50 to 65 per cent while Pfizer and AstraZeneca, 80 to 90 per cent.
The National Immunisation Programme (NIP) director Khairy Jamaluddin, who is also the Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, had to volunteer himself to be the first person to be vaccinated with the Sinovac vaccine to appease the fears and doubts of the people.
After the vaccination he joked that he could now speak Mandarin, thanks to the Sinovac vaccine. In my home state, Negri Sembilan, some have Pfizer vaccines and others have Sinovac vaccine depending on the centres that they are assigned to.
So some of my friends with Pfizer vaccines boast about their vaccine's efficacy and take pride that are better protected and a class above because of the global recognition of the Pfizer vaccine.
Medically, Pfizer and Sinovac vaccines are similar and very effective at preventing severe disease and hospitalisation but less effective against mild or asymptomatic Covid-19 cases.
We must have faith and belief that the vaccine will give immunity. Sometimes, it is all in the mind. There is no guarantee that those who got vaccinated with Pfizer or Sinovac will not be re-infected.
More than 2,000 medical front liners who were fully vaccinated with the Pfizer, AstraZeneca and Sinovac contracted the Covid virus. However they were mostly in Stage 1 and 2 with mild colds and fever.
So everyone is susceptible to the virus. Irrespective whichever vaccine you have got, the onus is on you to protect yourself and your loved ones by observing the Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) of wearing masks properly, washing and sanitising of hands frequently, avoiding closed, crowded and confined places and not going out unnecessarily.
Remember too that being fully vaccinated does not give you the licence to be free because the virus is still out there.
Samuel Yesuiah
Seremban, Negri Sembilan
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of the New Straits Times