Khairy issues ‘top up’ reminder as deadline for booster shot looms

Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin today reminded senior citizens and those who were inoculated with the Sinovac jab to get their booster shots by March 1 or lose their fully vaccinated status.

In a Twitter post, he said the vaccination status of senior citizens who had not received a booster jab by then would change to “incomplete” in their MySejahtera application.

“The same goes for all Sinovac recipients regardless of age,” he said. “Top up your protection to stay safe from Omicron.”

Khairy said yesterday that some 3.5 million individuals initially inoculated with Sinovac had yet to receive a booster shot, along with 32% or about a million senior citizens.

Noting a reluctance among Sinovac recipients to receive a booster jab of the Pfizer or AstraZeneca vaccine, he said the health ministry had decided to allow them the option of receiving Sinovac as a booster shot by appointment.

Khairy said in December last year that senior citizens above the age of 60 and those who had received two shots of the Sinovac Covid-19 vaccine would need to take a third booster jab in order to maintain their status as fully vaccinated.

He said this was in line with the proposal by the World Health Organization through its Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunisation.

“If they have not received their booster shots by February 2022, their vaccination status will be changed to incomplete, and they will not be eligible for the facilities accorded to those who have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19,” he said.

The government began administering booster shots for fully vaccinated people on Oct 13 last year.

As of yesterday, just over 53% of adults or 12,473,139 individuals had received a booster jab.