This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly on December 27, 2021 - January 2, 2022
At this challenging time, Malaysians who got their jabs in history’s biggest vaccination drive in order to help the country achieve herd immunity against Covid-19 deserve to be among the newsmakers of the year
As the country grappled with the biggest wave of infections in 2021, much depended on the country’s vaccination programme and the people’s willingness to be vaccinated. As part of the government’s efforts to achieve herd immunity, both Malaysians and non-citizens were offered the shots free of charge.
One million people registered to be vaccinated via the MySejahtera mobile application, and the number increased rapidly after the mass vaccination programme was launched on Feb 24. Over 20 million people have registered with MySejahtera to date.
Eligible Malaysians got their vaccination appointments through the app, and queued up and waited patiently at the vaccination centres and private clinics for their turn to be jabbed. In the midst of all this and despite campaigns by anti-vaxxers, many complained about not getting their appointments soon enough.
When asked why they agreed to be vaccinated, the answers ranged from fear of dying and the need to protect their loved ones to the desire to live a normal life again. The people were persuaded by the need for herd immunity so that restrictions could be lifted and economic activity returns so that livelihoods may be restored. More importantly, lives could be protected against the disease.
Although many developed countries started giving the shots earlier, Malaysia’s vaccination rate picked up rapidly and even overtook some of them due to widespread vaccine hesitancy. For example, Americans were given the vaccines in mid-December 2020 but as at Dec 18, some 61.4% of the population were fully vaccinated, compared with Malaysia’s 78.9%.
In recent months, the government’s efforts to vaccinate the population have received accolades, thanks to the support of Malaysians who took the vaccines when offered. The freedom to travel, work, socialise and participate in social activities is increasingly being determined by one’s Covid-19 vaccination status.
Although the vaccination drive in Malaysia has progressed well, vaccine hesitancy may remain a challenge going forward with the rollout of the booster dose, because a growing number have expressed doubts about mixing vaccines while some are uncertain as to whether they really need additional shots.
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