ON July 28, Putrajaya suspended COVID-19 vaccination for Malaysian teenagers. I welcome this decision and as a parent of children ranging from 15 to 23 years old, I feel obliged to share the following studies I undertook:
- Khairy Jamaluddin, the National COVID-19 Immunisation Programme (PICK) Coordinating Minister informed Parliament on that day that after consultation with paediatric cardiologists, the unknown long-term effects towards teenagers led the Government to halt plans to vaccinate exam-year students. My question is: if the need to err on the side of caution applies to a 17-year-old teenager, why does it not also apply to a 24-year-old young adult?
- All the COVID-19 vaccines have been approved for Emergency Use only (see World Health Organisation [WHO] website).
According to an article on the History of Vaccines website, an educational resource by the physicians of Philadelphia, “Vaccine development is a long, complex process, often lasting 10-15 years and involving a combination of public and private involvement.”
There simply has not been enough time to test the safety of the various COVID-19 vaccines effectively.
- The current reports have shown that the vaccine does not prevent someone from being a carrier or getting COVID-19. It only reduces the symptoms.
We only need to look at Israel to see the results of their vaccination programme. Despite their high vaccination rate of 60%, the seven-day average has increased from 15 cases at the end of May to 3,148 per day presently (as on August).
Protection from the virus transmitting from vaccinated people to others has fallen to 16% for those vaccinated in January, indicating that they have lost protection from transmission to others over time and now have a 84% chance of passing it on to someone else, according to a study conducted by Israel’s Health Ministry on the impact of the Delta variant and the Pfizer vaccine.
Israel began to vaccinate those over 60 with a third dose of Pfizer a few days ago. It is apparent to me that ‘herd immunity’ is not achievable with the various vaccines available now. Further vaccination efforts should be concentrated on the high-risk groups.
On June 17, Khairy made the insightful statement that he was avoiding the term ‘herd immunity’.
- Who are the high risk groups? If simply based on age and not taking into account comorbidity, the most recent statistics I could find from the Internet are as follows:
Bearing in mind the estimated case fatality (CFR) for seasonal flu is 0.1% to 0.2% (US – CDC). Even though the recent data on new cases has been alarming, the Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah has been quick to point out that 98% of cases are Category 1 (no symptoms) and Category 2 (mild symptoms).
- I have heard of good alternative methods to end this pandemic (e.g. using ivermectin and other drugs protocol) which the Government is exploring.
- The voluntary consent of the human subject is absolutely essential.
The person involved should have the legal capacity to give consent and to exercise free power of choice without any element of force, fraud or any form of constraint or coercion and should have enough comprehension of the subject matter involved to enable him to make an enlightened decision.
- In this fluid situation, it is prudent to pay attention and follow the unfolding of events as more and more data and statistics emerge even daily.
Vaccination for emergency use should be proceeded with caution.
In summary, because of the unknown long-term effects, the doubtful evidence of the vaccines’ continuing effectiveness in preventing transmission and the low risk of fatality for this age group, I see no reason to rush to vaccinate healthy teenagers and young people.
I hope the Government will stand by this newest decision not to restart the initiative. – August 5, 2021.
Christopher Ling is a concerned parent.
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Focus Malaysia.
