Meet frontliners eager for inoculation to better serve Msians
By Dhesegaan Bala Krishnan - February 23, 2021 @ 9:25am
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's frontliners have expressed readiness to be vaccinated against Covid-19.
They stressed that contrary to what some people feared, the likelihood of side effects from the Covid-19 vaccine is miniscule at best.
The National Immunisation Programme, which begins tomorrow, will see the nation's frontliners become the first group to be inoculated against the virus.
Dr Nakhieeran Nallasamy said the vaccine is the best shot Malaysia has to restore normalcy, which the pandemic has upended for over a year now.
"For me, there are three reasons why everyone should take the vaccine.
"First, people should take the vaccine to protect themselves and their loved ones.
"Second, vaccines can help us to return to normalcy, especially since Movement Control Order restrictions are detrimental to the economy in the long term.
"Third, we need to get everyone vaccinated in order to introduce herd immunity in our population to stem the tide of infections.
"In this regard, it is important that every individual receives both vaccine doses to ensure that the immunity acquired is long-lasting."
Dr Nakhieeran also stressed that the possibility of the vaccines generating severe side effects is very rare.
"Studies found that only five in one million who receive the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines will develop anaphylaxis.
"Meanwhile, for the AstraZeneca vaccine, only one individual among 10,000 recipients will develop anaphylaxis, but the rate is expected to decrease as more people get inoculated.
"In fact, all reports on deaths related to vaccination were proven fake, except for a case in Norway which involved elderly people with serious comorbidities."
His views were echoed by medical laboratory technologist Nor Asriah Pandir, who was eager to get herself inoculated.
"It is important that we take preventive measures before assisting anyone else. Although the vaccine will build our defence system against Covid-19, vaccine recipients must not get complacent and stop adhering to the standard operating procedures.
"Vaccines are only preventive measures. They are not a decisive cure," she said.
Dr Bareth Ravindran said frontliners had a moral obligation to lead by example by getting themselves vaccinated.
"As a healthcare worker, I have seen how the pandemic crippled our healthcare system. Many healthcare workers contracted the virus while handling infected patients. Getting the vaccine means protecting myself and people around me from infection.
"Everyone must get themselves inoculated as the virus is already rampant in the community. This will reduce Covid-19 infections and free up our resources to tackle other non-Covid-19 health conditions."
Police sergeant Major Kam Phon Klop said he will take the vaccine because it will enable him to assist the public without having to fear being infected.
"All frontliners are exposed to the risk of contracting the virus. So we must get inoculated to protect ourselves.
"Hopefully, the Health Ministry will administer the appropriate vaccines based on our health background, since there are frontliners with other health issues such as diabetes and hypertension."