Is Malaysia prepared for a Covid-19 Delta Variant surge?


(Tatal ke bawah untuk kenyataan versi BM)

According to the recent testimony by the head of the Oxford Vaccine Group, Professor Sir Andrew :Pollard to the United Kingdom all-party parliamentary group (APPG) on coronavirus, reaching herd immunity is “not a possibility” with the current Delta variant.

The British media reported the evidence of Pollard to the UK parliamentary group on
Tuesday who said that the fact that vaccines did not stop the spread of Covid-19 meant reaching the threshold for overall immunity in the population was “mythical”.

He said: “The problem with this virus is [it is] not measles. If 95% of people were vaccinated against measles, the virus cannot transmit in the population.

“The Delta variant will still infect people who have been vaccinated. And that does mean that anyone who’s still unvaccinated at some point will meet the virus … and we don’t have anything that will [completely] stop that transmission.”

The authorities should take fully into account that although the existing vaccines are very effective at preventing serious Covid illness and death, they do not stop a fully vaccinated person from being infected by the virus that causes Covid-19.

The concept of herd or population immunity relies on a large majority of a population gaining immunity – either through vaccination or previous infection – which, in turn, provides indirect protection from an infectious disease for the unvaccinated and those who have never been previously infected.

Data from a recent study conducted by Imperial College London suggested that fully vaccinated people aged 18 to 64 have about a 49% lower risk of being infected compared with unvaccinated people. The findings also indicated that fully vaccinated people were about half as likely to test positive after coming into contact with someone who had Covid (3.84%, down from 7.23%).

How can Malaysia claim to have a “whole-of-nation” strategy and approach in the war against Covid-19 when Parliament is locked down and Parliamentary Select Committees are prevented from functioning?

We must take the further steps to firstly, accelerate the slow national vaccination rollout to avoid the pandemic of the unvaccinated, as we have so far only fully vaccinated some 30 per cent of the population while some 50 per cent of the population had received the first dose of the vaccine; and secondly, to prepare the public health system, which is near breaking point in certain areas, to be able to cope with increased demands for ICU units, hospital beds, oxygen supplies and medical support when there is a surge of new Covid-19 cases resulting from Delta, Delta Plus, Lambda and other more transmissible and virulent variants, some of which may be resistant to existing vaccines.

(Media Statement (2) by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Kuala Lumpur on Friday, 13th August 2021)

 


Adakah Malaysia bersedia untuk berdepan ancaman Varian Delta yang semakin meningkat?

Menurut testimoni baru-baru ini oleh Ketua Kumpulan Vaksin Oxford, Profesor Sir Andrew Pollard kepada kumpulan parlimen seluruh parti (APPG) United Kingdom mengenai coronavirus, mencapai imuniti kelompok “bukanlah suatu kemungkinan” dengan penularan varian Delta yang ada sekarang.

Media Britain melaporkan bukti yang dikemukakan Pollard kepada kumpulan parlimen UK pada Selasa yang mengatakan hakikat bahawa vaksin tidak dapat menghentikan penyebaran Covid-19 bermaksud usaha untuk mencapai ambang imuniti secara keseluruhan dalam populasi sebenarnya adalah suatu “mitos”.

Beliau berkata: “Masalah dengan virus ini ialah ia bukannya penyakit campak. Sekiranya 95% populasi diberi vaksin campak, virus tersebut tidak dapat menular dalam masyarakat.

“Varian Delta masih akan menjangkiti orang yang telah divaksin. Dan itu bermaksud bahawa sesiapa yang masih belum divaksin akan dijangkiti virus… dan kita tidak mempunyai apa-apa yang akan [sepenuhnya] menghentikan penularannya.”

Pihak berkuasa harus mengambil kira hakikat bahawa meskipun vaksin yang ada sangat efektif untuk mencegah penyakit dan kematian Covid yang serius, ia tidak menghentikan seseorang yang telah diberikan vaksin sepenuhnya daripada dijangkiti Covid-19.

Konsep imuniti kelompok atau populasi bergantung pada sebilangan besar populasi yang memperoleh imuniti – sama ada melalui vaksinasi atau jangkitan sebelumnya – yang, pada gilirannya, memberikan perlindungan tidak langsung dari penyakit berjangkit bagi yang tidak divaksin dan mereka yang tidak pernah dijangkiti sebelumnya.

Data dari kajian baru-baru ini yang dijalankan oleh Imperial College London menunjukkan bahawa individu berusia 18 hingga 64 tahun yang telah divaksin sepenuhnya mempunyai risiko 49% lebih rendah untuk dijangkiti berbanding dengan individu yang tidak divaksin. Hasil kajian itu juga menunjukkan bahawa individu yang diberi vaksin sepenuhnya separuh kemungkinan akan didapati positif setelah bersentuhan dengan seseorang yang menghidap Covid (3,84%, turun dari 7,23%).

Bagaimana Malaysia boleh mengaku memiliki strategi dan pendekatan “keseluruhan negara” dalam perang melawan Covid-19, sedangkan Parlimen dikunci dan Jawatankuasa Pilihan Parlimen dihalang daripada berfungsi?

Kita harus mengambil langkah selanjutnya, pertama; mempercepat program vaksinasi negara yang ketika ini agak perlahan untuk mengelakkan berlakunya pandemik di kalangan individu yang tidak divaksin (pandemic of the unvaccinated), kerana setakat ini hanya 30 peratus populasi telah diberikan vaksin sepenuhnya sementara sekitar 50 peratus populasi telah menerima satu dos vaksin; dan kedua, untuk mempersiapkan sistem kesihatan awam, yang kini berada di ambang kelumpuhan di kawasan tertentu, supaya peningkatan permintaan ICU, katil hospital, bekalan oksigen dan sokongan perubatan dapat diatasi apabila berlaku lonjakan kes Covid-19 yang baru ekoran daripada penularan varian Delta, Delta Plus, Lambda dan varian lain yang lebih mudah ditularkan dan menular, yang mana antaranya mungkin kebal terhadap vaksin.

(Kenyataan Media (2) oleh Ahli Parlimen DAP Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang di Kuala Lumpur pada hari Jumaat, 13 Ogos 2021)

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