MoH: Over 52pc of Sinovac recipients in Malaysia have received booster shots; nearly 90pc received Pfizer jab

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 5 — Malaysia has already administered over 6.8 million Covid-19 vaccine booster doses as more individuals are now eligible after health authorities have reduced the booster interval for most vaccine types to three months. To provide transparency on the ongoing booster program, the Ministry of Health has shared a new dataset which includes the breakdown of all booster combinations delivered so far.

As of 3rd January 2022, over 6.6 million boosters have been administered. As shared by Dr Mahesh Appannan, the Head of Data at the Crisis Preparedness and Response Centre, Ministry of Health, 52.9 per cent of individuals fully vaccinated with Sinovac have received their Covid-19 boosters. From this figure, 86.4 per cent have gotten Pfizer as their booster, followed by 11.7 per cent that have taken Sinovac and 1.8 per cent with AstraZeneca.

13.8 per cent of individuals fully vaccinated with Pfizer have received their booster shots so far and 98.5 per cent of them have gotten the Pfizer booster, followed by 1.3 per cent having AstraZeneca and 0.2 per cent having Sinovac for their booster.

Meanwhile, 7 per cent of AstraZeneca recipients have gotten their booster with 71.1 per cent of them receiving Pfizer booster, 28.6 per cent receiving AstraZeneca, and 0.3 per cent with Sinovac.

Bulk of Sinovac recipients have gotten their booster appointment earlier as it had a shorter 3-month vaccine interval versus Pfizer which initially had a longer 6-month interval. In addition, the Ministry of Health has announced last month that Sinovac recipients, as well as senior citizens, will lose their “Fully Vaccinated” status if they don’t get their booster shot by February 2022.

The shorter three-month interval for Pfizer and AstraZeneca recipients was announced on 28th December 2021. The recommended booster for all vaccine types (except Moderna) is Pfizer. Alternative vaccines are permitted as well and it is listed by the technical working group as shown above.

Looking at the booster combination in total, 66.1 per cent are currently having SSP (Sinovac+Sinovac+Prizer), followed by 21.3 per cent with PPP (Pfizer+Pfizer+Pfizer), 8.9 per cent with SSS (Sinovac+Sinovac+Sinovac) and 1.4 per cent with SSA (Sinovac+Sinovac+AstraZeneca). Since boosters for AstraZeneca recipients have just started recently, 1.3 per cent are AAP (AstraZeneca+AstraZeneca+Pfizer) and 0.5 per cent have gotten AAA (AstraZeneca+AstraZeneca+AstraZeneca) combo.

The Ministry of Health has shared the raw data for vaccinations including booster combination as well as adverse effects following immunisation (AEFI) on GitHub. For a clearer view of the current Covid-19 situation and vaccination rate, you can use the CovidNow dashboard.  — SoyaCincau