PETALING JAYA (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - The Covid-19 vaccine in development in Malaysia is expected to be ready in 2024, and it is also being designed as a booster shot, said Institute for Medical Research (IMR) director Tahir Aris.
"Those who are fully vaccinated may need booster shots to stay protected, and they may even need it yearly," Dr Tahir told The Star newspaper during a tour of the IMR laboratory in Setia Alam.
"Such a move is important to continue our defence against the coronavirus. Malaysia should not rely wholly on imported vaccine supplies."
"We are hoping this vaccine will be effective against these emerging variants," he added.
Dr Tahir said the project's progress has been positive and the inactivated vaccine would undergo pre-clinical trials involving animals in August at the Veterinary Research Institute facility in Ipoh, Perak.
"The tests will take around six months before we can move forward with clinical trials involving humans next year," he said. "We hope that the vaccine will be ready in 2024."
The IMR, which is under the Health Ministry, is working on two types of Covid-19 vaccines: one using mRNA technology and the other using the inactivated vaccine approach.
The institute is working with experts from Universiti Putra Malaysia and the Veterinary Research Institute, which is under the Veterinary Services Department.
Whether the vaccine will require one or two doses will be known only in the later stages of its development.
Dr Tahir said he hopes Malaysia's Covid-19 vaccines would match the quality of those produced overseas.
"The initiative to develop the Covid-19 vaccine goes beyond the current pandemic, as it will prepare Malaysia in case of future outbreaks," he said. "We also need to develop young researchers in this field for the benefit of the nation."
It was reported that a budget of RM3.1 million (S$1 million) was approved for the development of Covid-19 vaccines for laboratory and animal studies only. Extra funding will have to be applied for to fund the pre-clinical and clinical studies.
Malaysia administered 217,807 Covid-19 vaccine doses on Saturday (July 3), with 141,140 people receiving their first dose of the vaccines while a further 76,667 completed their inoculation, said the Special Committee on Covid-19 Vaccine Supply.
In a post on Twitter on Sunday, the committee said this means 8,800,700 Covid-19 vaccine doses have been given since the national programme began.
To date, 6,261,014 people, or 19.2 per cent of those eligible, have received at least one dose of the vaccine. A total of 2,539,686 people, or 7.8 per cent of those eligible, had been given two doses of the vaccines and completed their inoculations to date.
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin is in stable condition and is expected to be discharged from hospital soon after receiving treatment for a digestive system infection, his office said on Sunday (Jul 4).
Following advice from a team of doctors, Muhyiddin, who was hospitalised for diarrhoea on Wednesday, will remain in hospital for intravenous antibiotic treatment and is expected to be discharged "in a few more days", his office said in a statement.
"His condition is stable and improving and he is allowed to work while receiving treatment," it said.
A thorough health screening found no evidence that Muhyiddin was experiencing a recurrence of cancer, his office said. In 2018, Muhyiddin was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. He was declared cancer-free last June.
KUALA LUMPUR: At the gate of a wooden and brick house in Sungai Way New Village, Petaling Jaya, a white flag hung limply on a long stick.
Mr Jambu Nathan Kanagasabai, 64, put up the flag on Thursday (Jul 1) morning after seeing a post by a local retail chain offering food hampers to those in desperate need of assistance.
Shortly after that, passers-by took notice of his plea and alerted the local village committee.
"The committee chairman offered my father some cash, but he just needed food because 'segan' (ashamed)," Mr Jambu Nathan's daughter Vani told CNA.
Mr Jambu Nathan, his wife and his sister share a house at the Malayan Emergency-era settlement. He used to earn about RM1,300 (US$312) monthly as a security guard for a goldsmith shop.
With that money and small contributions from his children, he could afford to buy food and pay for rent, utilities and his wife's medication.
This income vanished during the first movement control order (MCO) last year to curb the spread of COVID-19 as the shop was shut as a non-essential business. And this was repeated during the next two MCOs and the current first phase of the National Recovery Plan.
"I received RM500 through the government's Bantuan Prihatin Rakyat handouts, but RM450 of that goes towards rent," Mr Jambu Nathan said.
Jambu Nathan Kanagasabai and his daughter Vani. (Photo: Vincent Tan)
Vani, his daughter, said they could not afford to give him the same amount of money because they were also facing financial difficulties due to the pandemic.
Her electrician service business was not permitted to operate and she has to take care of her own children and in-laws.
"We thought at first this year might get better, but it has just been worse and worse," Mr Jambu Nathan said.
Mr Jambu Nathan was one of those whose livelihoods have been severely affected by the varying degrees of lockdown in Malaysia since last March. On Jun 1, a total lockdown for the entire country was enforced and many parts of Selangor and Kuala Lumpur were placed under stricter curbs beginning Saturday.
A movement calling for those in desperate need of assistance to fly a white flag as an SOS call began gaining momentum on social media last week. Members of the public who see a white flag are encouraged to step forward to offer help.
Heart-wrenching accounts of people who have depleted their savings due to the pandemic and have to raise a white flag to call for help have since surfaced.
Despite this, the movement has also raised eyebrows, with some politicians denouncing the act of flying a white flag, which traditionally symbolises surrender.
"I'M NOT SHY TO ADMIT"
Another Malaysian who has put up a white flag was Mr Lim Boon Wah, 65, who lives in Kampung Chempaka, Petaling Jaya with his wife Wong Ah Yuen, 61.
“I’m not shy to admit, I don't have savings anymore,” he told CNA.
He put up the flag on Thursday morning after his friends alerted him of the movement.
Lim Boon Wah and his wife Wong Ah Yuen rent a room in this house in Kampung Cempaka, Petaling Jaya. (Photo: Vincent Tan)
When CNA met the couple at their house, a woman came to hand them some cash, while two employees from the aforementioned local retail chain showed up with a care package.
Earlier, state assemblyman Siti Jamaliah Jamaluddin and Kampung Cempaka’s village committee chairman Theresa Lim also presented them with some dry foodstuffs.
The aid would be sufficient for the next two months, Mr Lim said, adding that they have been subsisting on instant noodles every day.
Kampung Cempaka village committee chairman Theresa Lim and state assemblyman Siti Jamaliah Jamaluddin (left) arriving with some food for Lim Boon Wah and his wife Wong Ah Yuen (right). (Photo courtesy of Leong Chee Cheng)
“We’ve cleaned out what little savings and retirement funds we accumulated, on account of my illness,” he said.
Mr Lim and his wife worked as sales promoters at a local supermarket in Kuala Lumpur, but after his kidneys failed, he was asked to resign, and his wife shortly followed.
Losing their jobs meant they had to rush to find cheaper accommodation back in 2019 and to survive on their meagre retirement funds.
At their age and with her husband’s condition, it was almost impossible to find any jobs - even menial ones - in the current economy, which contracted by 5.6 per cent in 2020.
Even with free dialysis arranged by a charity, travelling to the centre and the medication cost money.
Mr Lim said he often woke up at night, wondering how they would be able to afford the fees and the rental.
“At times, I’ve thought about giving up. It would be simple, just don’t attend a few hemodialysis sessions and just pass away quietly,” he said.
WHAT SPURRED THE MOVEMENT?
Social and political activist Nik Faizah Nik Othman, who is the deputy chief of the Tumpat Amanah's women’s wing in Kelantan, was identified as one of the earliest Twitter users to suggest flying a white flag to indicate the household needs urgent assistance.
“I was saddened seeing the suicide incidents taking place every day, hence I started this campaign. I feel these (suicides) should not take place, and indicate something far worse will happen to the country if the issue is neglected,” she told CNA.
Mdm Nik Faizah added that she did not wish to see acts of suicide become a new norm for the younger generation.
Nik Faizah Nik Othman, deputy chief of the Tumpat Amanah's women’s wing, is identified as one of the earliest Twitter users to suggest flying white flags as a call for urgent help. (Photo: Facebook/Nik Faizah Nik Othman)
“Hence the idea to get those who are in difficulty and depression to raise a white flag as a call for help came by spontaneously,” she said.
Police statistics showed that a total of 468 suicide cases were reported nationwide from January to May, and Selangor topped the chart with 117 cases. Three main causes were family problems, emotional pressure and finances, according to Criminal Investigation Department director Abd Jalil Hassan.
In Tumpat, Mdm Nik Faizah said, some households had flown white flags and received assistance from the public.
“Even so, many would rather live in difficulty than taking the initiative to fly the flag due to embarrassment, fear of accusations from others and the lack of confidence that they'll actually receive help,” she added.
Mdm Lim, the village committee chairman of Kampung Cempaka, said the appearance of a white flag had come as a surprise, as she was already running a food aid programme distributing dry foods to over 300 households.
Theresa Lim and her assistant packing dry foods in aid of needy recipients in Kampung Cempaka, Petaling Jaya. (Photo: Vincent Tan)
“We went on morning rounds to see if there were any flags put up, so when I saw Mr Lim’s white flag, I quickly informed our local city councillor and state assemblyman, and we managed to put together a care package which we passed to Mdm Wong,” she said.
She added that she would be following up with the couple and would discuss how best to help them with the state assemblyman.
“There are various schemes to help them, so we can help guide them in terms of application, and if more aid is needed, I can still call the charities for help,” she said.
NOT EVERYONE AGREES
Despite the heartwarming tales of people stepping up to help fellow Malaysians, some have decried the white flag movement as a form of defeat.
The Kedah state government, for instance, said it would not aid those who put up such flags.
Kedah Chief Minister Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor was reported by Malay-language daily Utusan Melayu as saying that the state government would not recognise using the white flag as a sign of needing food aid throughout the lockdown period.
The chief minister was quoted as saying that the government would only channel food aid to those who had officially requested such as by phoning in to the local disaster control centres.
He claimed that the white flag was a political propaganda to create the perception that the government had failed in the eyes of society.
Bachok MP Nik Mohamad Abduh Nik Abdul Aziz posted on his Facebook page, stating that rather than raising a white flag, those in need should “raise their hands and pray to God.”
“Don’t raise surrender towards tests by teaching the people to fly white flags,” the politician said, drawing the ire of some netizens.
A religious ruling posted on the website of the federal territories mufti's office noted that such an act is permissible if it makes it easier for those willing to help to identify needy recipients. "However, if we see it as something that would embarrass us, then it should be avoided," the article read.
The article noted that people in need of help could also reach out to those who offer aid directly. "It is up to each individual's judgement in implementing the methods and initiatives that one feels comfortable with."
BANGKOK - Even as Thailand reopens the island of Phuket to vaccinated tourists, the country continues to battle record infection and death rates that have prompted semi-lockdowns in hardest-hit provinces like Bangkok.
The number of cases nationwide has continued to climb in recent weeks, partially fuelled by the fast-spreading Delta variant and the country's slow vaccination drive.
On Saturday (July 3), Thailand reported 6,230 new infections - the highest level since it hit nearly 10,000 in mid-May - and 41 deaths.
As a first step, Phuket reopened its doors to hundreds of vaccinated tourists on Thursday. The resort island has recorded single-digit daily cases in the past week, with seven new cases on Saturday.
Thailand, which is heavily reliant on tourism, lost about US$50 billion (S$67 billion) in tourism revenue last year as foreign arrivals plunged 83 per cent to 6.7 million, from a record 39.9 million in 2019.
"(When) we take into consideration the economic needs of people, the time has now come for us to take that calculated risk. The priorities for our country must now advance to the next level," Mr Prayut said.
Less than two weeks after this October deadline was set, surging infection numbers forced the authorities to impose a partial lockdown in Bangkok and five surrounding provinces from Monday (June 28). Dining in is banned, shopping malls must close by 9pm, and activities involving more than 20 people are not allowed.
The month-long measures also shut construction sites and sealed off workers' camps to contain the multiple clusters that have emerged there.
Thailand has recorded a total of more than 270,000 cases and over 2,100 deaths.
It is facing an overwhelmed healthcare system and a shortage of vaccines as the authorities race to beef up its army of hospital workers and intensive care unit (ICU) beds, as well as procure more shots.
Officials said on Friday that Thailand will speed up inoculations of elderly and medically vulnerable people, to reduce the number of Covid-19 patients in critical condition. This group has a combined population of 17 million.
Currently, only 0.7 per cent, or 83,000, of those over age 60 and 3.1 per cent of people with health conditions have received two doses of the vaccine.
So far, 2.9 million of Thailand's more than 66 million people are fully vaccinated.
The mass vaccination drive, which had earlier targeted to administer 10 million doses monthly from June, relies heavily on the country's locally produced AstraZeneca vaccine. However, there have been production and distribution delays.
Meanwhile, to free up beds at Bangkok's hospitals, the Public Health Ministry said last month that it would allow asymptomatic Covid-19 patients to isolate at home, instead of mandatory hospitalisation like before.
More resources are also being channelled to Bangkok's overwhelmed healthcare system. The authorities said they would be increasing the number of hospital beds and mobilising newly graduated doctors from several provinces to make up for the manpower shortage in the capital.
BANGKOK - The result slip of their Covid-19 test was slid under the door of their Phuket hotel room on Friday morning (July 2).
With that, British couple Stuart and Angela Lucy Smith left their room for breakfast and lounged by the pool at Wyndham Grand hotel, just one day after landing in the Thai resort island.
Hotel employees lavished their attention on the Smiths, who are among the inaugural batch of vaccinated foreign tourists allowed to roam the island province without undergoing quarantine as part of its "sandbox" scheme.
"I think nearly every member of staff has come over and welcomed us and thanked us for making the effort to come," Mrs Smith, 47, told The Straits Times on Friday night.
The couple, who are educators based in Qatar, had to brave an array of rule changes by the Thai government. But they were determined to restart their annual summer holidays in Thailand - something they missed last year as global travel ground to a halt amid the pandemic.
They received their final approval for the trip just one day before their flight.
On their first day out and about in Phuket, they had the whole hotel swimming pool to themselves until late in the afternoon. They ate satay and spring rolls as the bartender plied them with cocktails.
"We spent most of the day at the pool bar relaxing with the staff here, who spent a lot of time making different cocktails for us, and telling us the bar is new and looking for new ideas and things," she said.
It was only in the evening on Friday when they ventured out of their hotel around Nai Harn beach did they see up close how the pandemic had devastated Phuket.
Before the pandemic, tourism accounted for a fifth of Thailand's economy and more than 90 per cent of Phuket's.
"(In the past) we would spend most of our time going to restaurants where there were local food and... older ladies doing the cooking. We love that," Mrs Smith said. "But this evening we didn't see many of those open, which was quite sad. It was more of the Western restaurants and bars."
Where the roads used to buzz with scooters, they saw at most a dozen pass by the entire evening. "I have never seen it like this really," Mrs Smith said.
First-time visitor Jeremy Ansell, 51, who heads a technology start-up in Israel, has never seen Phuket when it was bustling. Yet, after roaming Kata beach on Friday where his family were the only tourists, he told ST: "It's a bit strange that it's so empty."
He wished he had visited Phuket before the pandemic. "Those who have been here before might know it for being crowded with all the bars and clubs," he said. "But now it's quiet, it's fantastic. Like being on your own private island."
Mr Jeremy Ansell said he wished he had visited Phuket before the pandemic. PHOTO: COURTESY OF JEREMY ANSELL
About 1,000 tourists were given the green light to enter Phuket via the "sandbox" scheme from Thursday to Saturday. The programme, to be expanded to other tourist destinations like Samui and Krabi, allows vaccinated tourists to roam selected areas where sufficient numbers of residents have been inoculated and strict health protocols implemented.
These tourists, from lower-risk countries, are free to travel to other parts of Thailand after 14 days - the length of time that arrivals via other channels would have to quarantine themselves.
Thailand welcomed some 35,000 international visitors from January to May this year, compared with almost 40 million in 2019 before the pandemic struck.
It is unclear if this deadline can be achieved, with just 2.9 million of Thailand's more than 66 million population fully vaccinated as at Saturday, and the daily rise in infections at 6,230, with 41 deaths.
Physicians based outside Bangkok have been redeployed to the capital as field hospitals fill up. The Bank of Thailand recently cut its full-year economic growth projection from 3 per cent to 1.8 per cent.
Mr Peter Webster, regional general manager for Singapore, Thailand, Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia at Hilton, which has two resorts in Phuket, said they have welcomed guests from Abu Dhabi, Germany and Israel, and have upcoming reservations from the United States and Europe.
"This (Phuket sandbox) is a significant move to elevate international confidence in Thailand as a travel destination," he told ST. "We will have to wait for a few more weeks to assess the prospects of this scheme, but the fact that a first step was taken means a lot for the Thai tourism community."
British couple Stuart and Angela Lucy Smith lounging by the pool at Wyndham Grand hotel in Phuket, on July 2, 2021. PHOTO: COURTESY OF ANGELA LUCY SMITH
Smaller-scale tourism players like Mr Adul Minyong, who was forced by the pandemic to stop driving his taxi and instead do construction work, hope the benefits will trickle down to them.
"The sandbox is a good policy. It keeps customers safe, and it keeps us safe, if we all stick to the rules," he said.
Mrs Smith is aware of Thailand's continuing struggle with Covid-19 but is confident that her mask-wearing, safe distancing and sanitising practices will reduce her risk.
"The numbers are going to go up and they are going to go down. And I think this unfortunate pandemic is not really finished," she said. "And I am so aware that Thailand really needs to get some people in to spend some money. Tourism is such a big business for them."
JAKARTA (AFP) - Indonesia imposed a partial lockdown on Saturday (July 3) in the capital Jakarta, across the main island of Java and on Bali as the South-east Asian nation grapples with an unprecedented wave of coronavirus infections.
Mosques, restaurants and shopping malls were shuttered in virus hot spots around the Muslim-majority country, which recorded more than 25,000 new cases and 539 deaths on Friday, both new daily records.
Indonesia's daily caseload has more than quadrupled in less than a month. On Saturday, it reported a record of 27,913 new coronavirus infections and 493 deaths, taking its tally to 2,256,851 cases and the death toll to 60,027, official data showed.
But the official tally is widely believed to be a severe undercount due to low testing.
Hospital corridors are overflowing with the sick lying on gurneys, and infected patients have been turned away from hospitals unable to cope with the influx.
The Delta variant of the virus, first identified in India and now present in at least 85 countries, has been driving the recent wave and accounted for more than 80 percent of new cases in some areas, the health ministry has said.
The strain is the most contagious of any Covid-19 variant so far identified.
"(The surge) is primarily because of the Delta variant," Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin said on Friday. "It is in every country - nobody is safe."
Experts previously warned that millions travelling nationwide at the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan in May would trigger an explosion of cases.
The new measures announced by Indonesian President Joko Widodo this week are set to last until July 20 in the hope of bringing daily infections below 10,000.
Mr Widodo, better known as Jokowi, had long resisted the strict lockdowns seen in other virus-wracked nations, saying they could tank South-east Asia's biggest economy where millions live hand-to-mouth.
But all non-essential employees are now being ordered to work from home, while classes will be held only online.
Health experts warned that the tougher measures may not be enough.
The restrictions still allow for often-jammed public transport to continue operating at a reduced capacity, while domestic sea, air and bus travel will be available for people who have received at least one vaccine dose.
"How do you do physical distancing on public transportation?" said Indonesian epidemiologist Windhu Purnomo.
"The government is still prioritising the economy by letting people move around."
KUALA LUMPUR: COVID-19 restrictions will be eased in five Malaysian states on Jul 5, as they transition into phase 2 of the national recovery plan, said Senior Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob on Saturday (Jul 3).
These states are Kelantan, Terengganu, Perak, Pahang and Perlis.
Speaking during a joint press conference with Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz, the senior minister said more businesses will be allowed to reopen in these states, including shops selling stationery and computers, bookstores as well as telecommunication shops.
Malaysia's Senior Minister of Defence Ismail Sabri Yaakob. (Photo: Bernama)
"Inter-district and interstate travel is still prohibited, but teachers and students who are taking their major examinations this year would be able to travel to their school for classes," Mr Ismail Sabri said.
Long-distance married couples can also travel to meet each other, but only for emergencies or under special circumstances with police permission, he added.
"Businesses in essential sectors can also increase their manpower to 80 per cent (from the current 60 per cent), but employers need to ensure that social distancing and other standard operating procedures are adhered to."
The finance minister explained that parameters for transitioning into the various phases of the national-level recovery plan will now be applied at the state level. These parameters include daily case averages, intensive care unit (ICU) occupancy levels and vaccination rates.
This, he said, would allow individual states to transition earlier, as their local numbers had already shown great improvement, rather than wait for the national average to be attained, which might take longer.
Malaysian Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz. (File photo: Bernama)
"This refinement was suggested as a means of giving autonomy, incentive and hope to each state to continue breaking the chain of infection, increase their vaccinations and thus transition into the next phase," said Mr Tengku Zafrul.
When asked if a state could be asked to reimpose stricter restrictions if its case numbers or ICU occupancy take a turn for the worse, he said this would first be discussed at the National Security Council's (NSC) technical committee, before being brought to the main council for a decision.
Malaysia is currently in the first phase of a four-phase National Recovery Plan. As announced previously, new daily COVID-19 cases will have to be at an average of 4,000 before moving to phase 2.
The government will also take other parameters such as ICU occupancy and vaccination rates into consideration before transitioning to the next phase.
To enter phase 3, daily cases have to fall below 2,000, the public healthcare capacity is at a comfortable level with enough ICU beds, and 40 per cent of Malaysia's population will need to have received both vaccine doses.
The fourth and final phase is expected to be implemented by the end of October at the earliest when daily cases fall below 500 and 60 per cent of the population has been fully vaccinated.
On Saturday, Malaysia logged 6,658 new cases, of which 3,047 were in Selangor state. There are now more than 770,000 cases nationwide.
Many parts of Selangor state and Kuala Lumpur, have been placed under an enhanced movement control order (EMCO) from Saturday until Jul 16, in a bid to halt the rising trend of COVID-19 cases in these areas.
The EMCO entails stricter curbs such as residents being barred from leaving home after 8pm, while only one person per household is allowed to run errands.
