Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin yesterday called out the Malay community in our country for having the lowest percentage of Covid-19 vaccine booster shot uptakes and said that his ministry will intensify the efforts to communicate with the community on the importance of taking the booster dose.
In a Twitter post yesterday, Khairy revealed that only 47.9% of Malays have received the booster dose as of 10 February 2022 in our country. Hence, the Health Ministry is looking to have more effective strategic communications with the community via social media, especially on Facebook.
The full statistics of booster shot uptakes based on race in Malaysia is as per below:
- Chinese – 81.3%
- Indians – 57.4%
- Others – 50.6%
- Orang Asli – 49.6%
- Malays – 47.9%
In the same tweet, Khairy also said that the overall number of booster doses administered daily was starting to increase again and stressed that the additional dose is the best protection against the Covid-19 virus, especially amid the recent threat of its fast-spreading Omicron variant.
The Health Minister also commended the state of Sarawak for having the highest number of booster dose uptake with 76.8% in the territory already receiving their booster shots. The full statistics of booster shot uptakes according to regions is as per below:
- Sarawak – 76.8%
- Melaka – 71.9%
- Klang Valley – 66.9%
- Negeri Sembilan – 62.4%
- Penang – 61.5%
- Labuan – 57.1%
- Johor – 56.8%
- Perak – 51.7%
- Pahang – 48.3%
- Kedah – 43.9%
- Terengganu – 37.4%
- Perlis – 30.9%
- Kelantan – 25.3%
- Sabah – 24.8%
Furthermore, as reported by national news agency Bernama, Khairy also stressed that focus must be given to areas with low Covid-19 booster coverage, especially in view of the upcoming Johor State Election this 12 March. He also said that as an initiative to have better ventilation systems in building so as to limit the transmission of Covid-19, the government is introducing tax deductions under Budget 2022 for employers who upgrade their ventilation systems at their office.
What do you guys think of the Health Minister’s statement? Share your thoughts with us in the comments.
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