THE Malaysian Health Coalition (MHC) has urged the Government to immediately establish and implement an endemic COVID-19 strategy that includes strategies for the Omicron variant alongside other possible future variants.
Recommending an increase in genomic surveillance, the health coalition said that Malaysia had performed successful surveillance for viral diseases since the 1960s. With Omicron detected in the country, it is time to adapt, pool and utilise the existing resources to increase genome sequencing.
“According to a global non-profit for genomic data (GISAID), Malaysia sequenced only 0.26% of all COVID-19 cases in the past 90 days which is below the recommended 0.7%-2.0% depending on case numbers,” said MHC, adding that Malaysia is under-sequencing compared to other developing nations like Thailand, India and South Africa.
“Therefore, we must actively build our own genome sequencing capacity through innovative partnerships between the Institute for Medical Research, university research and private laboratories.
“We must sequence more in targeted clusters and at points of entry to understand the spread of Omicron and detect emerging variants.
“The detection of variants must be coupled with robust real world data collection and analysis of case numbers, admissions, and disease severity to monitor its impact.
“We must also invest in research and development (R&D) to expand the personnel, expertise and infrastructure of our surveillance system. This allows new technologies and tools to be deployed, detect and respond to future variants.”
MHC also urged the Government to administer booster shots across Malaysia as quickly as possible with good safety monitoring.
“We commend the Government’s decision to expand boosters to more and more groups. However, we urge the Government to publicise booster data, including all safety data regarding Adverse Events Following Immunisation (AEFI) to build public confidence about the need for and safety of boosters,” MHC remarked.
“We also urge the Government to build a sustainable booster strategy, which requires answering the question: “Will we need Boosters Round 2, 3 or 4?”. Immunological studies may be needed to build clinical evidence to prove the effects of boosters on variants like Omicron.”
While welcoming the launch of the National Testing Strategy (NTS) on Nov 26, MHC questioned its lack of implementation date or plan, and urged its immediate and robust implementation with strong Government action to ensure equal access to affordable, quality and timely testing.
“Children under 12 are currently ineligible for the first two doses of vaccine and children aged 12 to 18 currently ineligible for booster doses should be offered more regular testing over and above the NTS.
“The NTS must be evaluated and refined constantly alongside the evolving endemic COVID-19 and integrated into the Health Ministry (MOH) database for centralised data collection and monitoring.” – Dec 15, 2021
